A rather strange view for a biology teacher.
After Ivan Turinski, a biology professor in a high school in Rijeka, said to his students during a class that evolution, as described by the evolution theory, does not really exist, he became (in)famous throughout the country. After a few days, he and the school decided to part their ways, reports RTL on October 11, 2018.
In an interview, he said that the media was writing lies about him and that at the introductory lesson he said that he personally did not believe in the theory of evolution, but that the subject would be taught as it was described in the textbook, which accepts the evolution as a fact.
“I said when we were discussing it given that it is part of the curriculum, that I personally did not believe in that theory. However, I emphasized that it was not about what someone believes or not, but that we would be dealing with scientific facts, with what has been proven and what has not,” he explained.
“It was just an introductory lesson, and one month later, all this chaos occurred just because I expressed something which is my personal opinion, which the children accepted and had some questions of their own,” he added.
He also said that he felt his chances for finding a new job were minimal. “I think there is now little chance for me to find another job if there is any chance at all. I think my name has been tainted, and my competencies are being presented as something questionable,” he concluded, adding that he did not blame the school principal of anything. He added that he was sorry he did not have a chance to say goodbye to his students.
According to a survey by the Pew Research Centre, Croatia is among the most religious countries in the world, with only 44 percent of Croats believing that living beings evolved thanks to natural selection, while 10 percent believe that the development was governed by God. Also, Croatia has a smaller percentage of people with a strong trust in science (18%) compared to neighbouring Serbia (31%), while the percentage of students attending religious studies in primary schools is extremely high, over 90%.
Damjan Franjević, a professor of evolution at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, commented on the issue. “This teacher should have at least some responsibility, not only moral but also scientific since he graduated from college. He should try to separate his personal views from his professional views,” he said.
“You can simply accept or not accept the theory of evolution for private or personal reasons. Many wanted to demonstrate that the theory of evolution was not true. Personally, I would be happy to do this, since I would get the Nobel Prize, but that is not how it works in science,” Franjević said.
Translated from RTL.
