Colic resigned amid ongoing protests against her decision to ban the teaching of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in Serbian schools. She also dumped a twenty-year plan for the reform of the education system and replaced compulsory English language classes in primary schools with compulsory religious education, the Belgrade based independent B92 radio network reported.
Colic said the teaching of evolution can only resume if it shares equal time with creationism, the school of thought that the earth and its species were "created."
Unlike evolutionists, many scientists supporting creationism believe that God created the current earth as described in the Bible in six days, although some only recognize a Creator, whatever that may be.
"(Darwinism) is a theory as dogmatic as the one which says God created the first man," said Minister Colic in a recent interview with daily Glas Javnosti.
Darwin launched the theory of evolution in 1859. It includes expressing the development of human beings from species comparable to apes over the course of millions of years.
Although Darwin reportedly expressed his doubts about the theory at the end of his life, several scientists still consider it as evidence how species developed under the influence of their environment. However Colic expressions provoked outrage from teachers and parents, who suggested it was an attempt by the Serbian Orthodox Church to increase its influence after years of Communism when religion was discouraged by the authorities.
ROW "OVERBLOWN"
Religion was only introduced to Serbian classrooms after socialist strongman Slobodan Milosevic was toppled in 2000.
Initially Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said the Darwin row was "overblown," but he later invited the minister for "private talks", raising expectations that her days were numbered.
"Ljiljana Colic informed Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica about the work of her ministry and the problems she was facing," said a government statement quoted by the Beta news agency on Thursday, September 16, following the talks. "Some of those problems started to reflect on the work of the entire government, therefore minister Colic informed the prime minister that she had decided to resign."
Her resignation was expected to come as a disappointment for her supporters, including church leaders. "I am not at all appalled", a priest, Nenad Ilic, told the Blic news paper, about her decision to ban Darwin’s theory.
"What’s worth from Darwin will remain, but his evolutionist theory should not be insisted upon," he said. The
government was expected to re-introduce the Darwin theory in schools. "I have come here to confirm Charles Darwin is still alive," deputy education minister Milan Brdar told reporters.
MORE DOUBTS
Before leaving office, Minister Colic argued that discussions on Darwin’s theory are also ongoing in other countries, an apparent reference to the United States where courts have recently quashed attempts by Christians to have the teaching of evolution banned from schools or countered by lessons in creationism. However Kansas reportedly scrubbed all mention of evolution and Big Bang theory from its curriculum in 1999, but does not ban their teaching.
A recent non scientific Internet poll of the U.S. news network MSNBC showed that 28 percent of those participating in it said that "alternatives to evolutionary theory should be given equal weight in science textbooks." But more than half of the respondents (54 percent) argued that "alternatives should not be mentioned in science textbooks," the network claimed.
Kostunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) — of which Colic is a founding member — has headed a minority coalition of four center-right parties since March. Her resignation was the first from his cabinet but was not expected to have a significant impact on Kostunica’s government.
