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Questions over funding for creationist nurseries

Creationist schools are being funded by the Government to provide free nursery education places, according to the British Humanist Association (BHA), Nursery World can exclusively reveal.

The BHA said it was 'seriously concerned' that schools that would not be considered acceptable by the Department for Education (DfE) for receipt of state funding are offering free early education places for three-and four-year-olds.

The BHA has pointed out that recent applications to set up free schools by a network of private creationist schools run by Accelerated Christian Education (ACE), including a group of applications from Christian Education Europe (CEE), have been turned down by the Department. The association believes that the same principle should apply to the funding of nursery education.

Head of public affairs Pavan Dhaliwal said, 'It is outrageous that public funding is being spent on nursery places for children at schools that the Government considers too extreme to run state schools. The Government urgently needs to review who this funding is going to.

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