Queensland’s regulator of non-state schools is investigating two Christian schools following a complaint by the Rationalist Society of Australia about the teaching of religious stories in science classes.

In a letter, the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board (NSSAB) has confirmed it is examining the concerns raised by the RSA in February.

The RSA submitted complaints with the NSSAB after discovering examples of two schools from the Open Brethren’s Christian Community Ministries (CCM) network teaching religious stories in their science classes.

As reported in early February, the subject outline for Years 7-10 at Dalby Christian College explains that students in ‘Science’ are taught that “science provides us with insights into God’s creation, enabling us to appreciate both the unity and order, diversity and complexity of God’s work.”

At Chinchilla Christian College, the Junior Secondary Handbook states that students studying ‘Geography’ learn about “land formations of God’s great creation and Noah’s flood”.

In the complaints, the RSA expressed concern that the teaching of such content contradicted and undermined the teaching of the mandatory content of the Australian Curriculum.

In its letter to the RSA last month, NSSAB said it would be writing to the schools’ governing body.

“The Board is responsible for monitoring the compliance of non-state schools and their governing bodies with the accreditation criteria set out in the Education (Accreditation of Non-State Schools Act 2017 and its supporting Regulation. This includes oversight of the educational program,” it said.

“The Board will write to the colleges’ governing body to seek its response to the matters raised in your complaints. 

“Please note that the Board’s examination of these matters may take some time to finalise, depending on the actions required.”

The Dalby and Chinchilla schools receive millions of dollars in federal and state funding every year.

Non-state schools are still required to teach the Australian Curriculum, or an approved version of it, with the science curriculum including topics such as evolutionary theory and the Big Bang, and the content based on scientific evidence and methods.

Late last year, the RSA raised similar concerns with the West Australian regulator of non-government schools about the teaching of religious myths as science at one Christian school. However, the RSA has received no response in the WA case.

In March, the RSA asked the federal education minister, Jason Clare, whether his department would be investigating to determine the extent of the problem of taxpayer-funded religious schools teaching religious stories as science.

RSA Executive Director Si Gladman told Minister Clare that the discovery of several examples in Queensland and Western Australia suggested the problem may be widespread, especially considering that many religious schools do not publish such handbooks and subject overviews online.