UK Minister: “teaching creationism is at odds with scientific fact”

Michael Gove, Education Secretary in the UK has stated categorically that creationism will not be allowed in the British public schools. Riazat Butt, of the Guardian, writes:

The Department for Education has said Michael Gove is "crystal clear that teaching creationism is at odds with scientific fact" after a warning that the government's new free schools could be exploited by fundamentalist churches looking to promote a literal interpretation of the Bible.

The remarks follow a letter to the education secretary from the British Centre for Science Education (BCSE) suggesting that creationists planned to use government legislation on free schools to mount a "concerted attack" on science education.

Free schools can be set up by charities, universities, businesses, educational groups, teachers and groups of parents. They will have more freedom over the contents of their curriculum, leading to fears that science teaching in the schools may not be as rigorous. Teachers working at free schools will also not need to have formal teaching qualifications.

There is not really an analogous entity for this sort of thing here in the U.S. The closest thing, philosophically, would be private schools, which definitely are not free.