POPULATION AND FAMILY EDUCATION
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Population education which emerged as an educational innovation in response to population problems only about four decades ago, is now being experimented in over a hundred countries of the world in non-too-uniform a manner. It has been introduced in the education systems of different countries as an important component of the multi-pronged strategy employed to help nations attain the goals of population stabilisation and sustainable development. Very few educational programmes have matched its pace of expansion and adopted such varied conceptual frameworks and strategies of curriculum transaction. Perhaps no other educational concept has experienced such frequent changes in its framework and been subjected to so many misunderstandings as the concept of population education. This has been so because of not only the nature of the context in which it emerged but also its newness and its complex characteristics. The concept of population education emerged in the context of population and development - the two most pressing issues before humankind today. Both are closely interrelated and both encompass a number of complex factors. Viewed as an epiphenomenon of the process of development, population issues have aroused widespread concern among almost all the members of the comity of nations. There have been undaunted endeavours to accelerate the pace of socioeconomic development through the instrumentalities of science and technology and to secure distributive justice for the people through different institutional mechanisms. But those are confronted with some basic population related questions of how many people are going to inhabit the earth, how they are to be supported and enabled to make their contributions to development efforts, what they are going to bequeath to posterity and how long they are going to be sustained by the natural and human resource base. The rapid population growth and the concomitant problems of poverty, lack of adequate health and educational facilities, malnutrition, non-fulfilment of even the basic needs of a vast majority of the populace, paucity of employment opportunities, dwindling natural resources and consequent environmental degradation constitute critical dimensions of the present population and development phenomena. It is also pertinent to note that the population phenomenon today embraces issues beyond development. While the size, growth, composition and distribution of population have a close bearing on socioeconomic development, the population related issues also bring forth concerns for the "carrying capacity" of biological and ecological system and the future of mankind.
Provision of Sex Education: Sex education which is also known as important as sexuality education is the education about the human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, human sexual behavior, and other aspects of sexuality, such as body image, sexual orientation, dating, and relationship. Sex education should be included in the school curriculum, starting from primary school, to enable the children to know what they are supposed to know about themselves and the male folks, so as not to be victims of the consequences of pre-marital sex.
CHAPTER TWO
NEED FOR FAMILY HEALTH AND SEX EDUCATION
1.) Naturally, many parents and their children feel embarrassed about talking about some aspects of sex and sexuality. Viewing sex education as an on-going conversation about values, attitudes and issues as well as providing facts can be helpful. The best basis to proceed on is a sound relationship in which a young person feels able to ask a question or raise an issue if they feel they need to. It has been shown that in countries like The Netherlands, where many families regard it as an important responsibility to talk openly with children about sex and sexuality, this contributes to greater cultural openness about sex and sexuality and improved sexual health among young people.
2.) Sex education seeks both to reduce the risks of potentially negative outcomes from sexual behaviour like unwanted or unplanned pregnancies and infection with sexually transmitted diseases, and to enhance the quality of relationships. It is also about developing young people's ability to make decisions over their entire lifetime.
3.) It is important not to delay providing information to young people but to begin when they are young. Providing basic information provides the foundation on which more complex knowledge is built up over time. This also means that sex education has to be sustained. For example, when they are very young, children can be informed about how people grow and change over time, and how babies become children and then adults, and this provides the basis on which they understand more detailed information about puberty provided in the pre-teenage years. They can also when they are young, be provided with information about viruses and germs that attack the body. This provides the basis for talking to them later about infections that can be caught through sexual contact.
4.)Some people are concerned that providing information about sex and sexuality arouses curiosity and can lead to sexual experimentation. There is no evidence that this happens.18 19 It is important to remember that young people can store up information provided at any time, for a time when they need it later on.
5. Sex education that works starts early, before young people reach puberty, and before they have developed established patterns of behaviour.15, 16 ,17 The precise age at which information should be provided depends on the physical, emotional and intellectual development of the young people as well as their level of understanding.
3.) It is important not to delay providing information to young people but to begin when they are young. Providing basic information provides the foundation on which more complex knowledge is built up over time. This also means that sex education has to be sustained. For example, when they are very young, children can be informed about how people grow and change over time, and how babies become children and then adults, and this provides the basis on which they understand more detailed information about puberty provided in the pre-teenage years. They can also when they are young, be provided with information about viruses and germs that attack the body. This provides the basis for talking to them later about infections that can be caught through sexual contact.
4.)Some people are concerned that providing information about sex and sexuality arouses curiosity and can lead to sexual experimentation. There is no evidence that this happens.18 19 It is important to remember that young people can store up information provided at any time, for a time when they need it later on.
5. Sex education that works starts early, before young people reach puberty, and before they have developed established patterns of behaviour.15, 16 ,17 The precise age at which information should be provided depends on the physical, emotional and intellectual development of the young people as well as their level of understanding.
It has been gradually realized that since the interrelationship between population and development is highly complex and population problems are multidimensional, it will not yield to any single solution. It is basically related to the developmental needs of a nation and its people. Demographic trends influence, and are influenced by, the level of development and the quality of life of the people. The population situation of any nation largely depends on the demographic behaviour of its people. Changes in the demographic profile of a nation depend largely on attitudes and behaviours of individuals in respect of population and development issues. The demographic behaviour is to a great extent informed by population socialization, a process by which people acquire norms, values, attitudes and belief systems in respect of population related issues and which is embedded within the larger complexes of social practices reflecting the society’s internal logical system. This process is greatly influenced by education which enables the individual to know the phenomenon of population change and its consequences. It is commonly observed in many countries that the knowledge of the simple facts of population change, let alone the complex interrelationships with other parameters, is very low even among educated people. It is precisely because of these complexities that population education has emerged as an integral part of the multi-pronged strategy employed to solve contemporary population problems that face the nations
Emergence of Population Education
The idea that population education can play a potential role in addressing population problems, was first mooted in Sweden in 1935. The Population Commission of Sweden, which expressed its concern on the declining rates of birth in that country, recommended a comprehensive and truly vigorous educational campaign to clarify population related issues aimed at influencing the fertility behaviour of individuals. A similar view was expressed in the United States during 1937-38. Since the birth rate continued to decline and population seemed to be dwindling, it was suggested that population studies be included as a content area in the school curriculum. However, nothing noteworthy happened during the next two decades.
It was in the 1960s that the matter was seriously reconsidered in the United States. Warren S. Thompson and Philip M. Hauser published papers in march 1962 issue of Teachers College Record, Columbia University reiterating the inclusion of population content in the school curriculum. Interestingly, they made such recommendations in a completely different context, as the perception of population problem had changed during 1960s and the concern had shifted from decline in growth rate to rapid population growth in both the industrialized and developing worlds. In the fifties and sixties, therefore, efforts were initiated in a number of countries to arrest population growth; and motivational activities for adults provided information about the consequences of high birth rate. The information, education and communication "IEC" or information education and motivation "IEM’ strategy was employed in family planning programmes to achieve the desired objectives. However, in the developing world the "IEC" activities of family planning programmes were not always as successful as had been expected. It was in this context that the potential of education was realised in order to overcome deeply entrenched traditional learning that influenced demographic behaviour of the people. The school education, in particular, was considered effective for achieving this objective. However, the nomenclature of population education was given to this educational innovation at a later date. Sloan Wayland was the first to use the term "population education".
The first national endeavour to evolve and concretise the concept of population education was made in India in 1969 and then in the Philippines and the Republic of Korea in 1970.
THE POPULATION AND FAMILY EDUCATION
UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Asia held in September 1970 at Bangkok, was a land-mark in the history of population education. It not only facilitated the identification of objectives of population education, the selection of suitable contents and the consideration of strategies for introduction of population education into formal and non-formal education systems but also resulted in the launching of national population education programmes by many countries in Asia. Similar activities were initiated by UNESCO Regional Offices in Santiago (Latin America and Caribbean) and Dakar (Africa South of the Sahara). The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), previously known as United Nations Fund for Population Activities, played a vital role in appreciating the potential of population education and providing funds for national programmes from the late sixties onwards.
Population education emerged as an educational innovation during 1970s and various countries initiated activities to introduce it into their ongoing education systems. The recommendations of the World Population Plan of Action adopted at the 1974 World Population Conference held in Bucharest, also encouraged nations to adopt the strategy of population education. The Plan of Action recommended that "the Governments should consider making provision, in both the formal and non-formal educational programmes, for informing their people on the consequences of existing or alternative fertility behaviour for the well-being of the family, for the educational and psychological development of children and for the general welfare of society, so that an informed and responsible attitude to marriage and reproduction will be promoted".
Population Education and other Concepts
In the initial phase of its evolution, there were several misconceptions regarding population education, and some of those still continue to affect its proper understanding. Population education was popularly equated with family planning or family planning education, primarily because of its emergence in close association with the "IEC" or "IEM’ activities of the family planning programmes. It was also regarded as a euphemism for sex education and family life education, as in some countries the concerned programmes approached population issues in terms of sexuality. Population education was also equated with population studies, and even now both the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, because the core of the knowledge base of population education, (the basic core content upon which the population education curriculum is developed), contained the elements of population studies. While population education is none of these "educations" in the true sense, it draws contents from all those educational areas the objectives of which are mutually supportive. It is necessary, therefore, to discuss the nature and objectives of certain related areas, as it may help in proper understanding of the distinction and complementarity between population education and them.
SEX EDUCATION
Sex Education is an educational programme designed to provide learners with adequate and accurate knowledge about human sexuality in its biological, psychological, socio-cultural and moral dimensions. It largely, though not exclusively, focuses on the individual self-awareness, personal relationships, human sexual development, reproduction and sexual behaviour. It also covers the anatomy and physiology of reproductive systems, physical, emotional and psychological changes during puberty and conception, pregnancy, and birth. It deals with sexual behaviour, sex roles and sexually transmitted diseases. Whereas population education deals with many of these contents, it focuses on their interrelationships with population issues and also on population processes other than fertility.
FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION
Closely related to sex education, the family life education is an educational process designed to assist young people in their physical, social, emotional and moral development, as they prepare themselves for adulthood, marriage and parenthood. It deals with issues like ageing as well as social relationships in the sociocultural context of family and society. It provides an opportunity to the learners to study family relationships and peer relationships. It does not simply deal with physiology and anatomy of reproduction and human sexuality. While population education includes these concerns in its scheme of content, it also covers many other issues that are beyond the scope of the family life education.
FAMILY PLANNING
In many countries population programmes were initiated as family planning programmes which had a special "IEC" or "IEM" component. This component came to be popularly known also as family planning education. In some countries this campaign was launched in a very narrow sense aimed at creating awareness about controlling birth by using contraceptives. It helped in the supply and use of contraceptives to eligible couples. But over the years family planning also has adopted a broad orientation. It is now increasingly being regarded more than an intervention to promote the use of contraception. It is a means of caring for the health of mother and child, enhancing the quality of families by regulating and spacing child birth, raising the age at marriage and improving the position of girls and women, helping sub-fertile couples to beget children and providing counseling for parents and potential parents. Despite these changes, the family planning education continues to address itself primarily to adults and youth, and its approach also remains predominantly prescriptive, explaining the oversimplified dogmatism of assertions like "small family is a happy family". Population education shares all the content of the family planning education and also focuses on its objectives. But the scheme of contents of population education is broader and its specific objectives are more varied than those of the family planning education. Both have basic differences in their approach. Population education does not follow prescriptive and didactic approaches. Whereas family planning education aims at conveying specific messages of family size and quality of life issues, population education focuses on influencing attitude and behaviour of individuals and developing basic thinking and decision-making skills in them.
POPULATION EDUCATION
Population education differs from all the areas delineated above in that its need arose under special historical circumstances and some typical contemporary issues. Family planning education was initiated with a view to conveying specific messages focussed on the need to control population growth. Sex education originally developed in response to the concern for changing sexual mores and increasing incidence of deviant sexual behaviour, venereal diseases and out of wedlock pregnancies. Family life education grew out of a recognition of the growing evidence of family instability and disintegration. Population studies evolved, not as a separate discipline but as an interdisciplinary body of knowledge by bringing together facts, theories and concepts based on the research studies conducted by the specialists of different disciplines and professional fields for explaining various facets of population phenomenon. Population education emerged as an educational response to the concern for population problems emanating from the changing inter-relationship between population and development.
It is primarily because of the context in which it emerged that population education, by its very nature, has been treated as a culture and region specific concept. Its definition in one country or region differs from that in the other. The numerosity of definitions is also the result of the constant changes being effected in the concept by including new areas of concern based on the experiences of international regional and national experimentation. Moreover, the definitions have been construed in various ways. Population education has been defined by describing the nature of activity or by stating objectives or contents or by spelling out behavioural outcomes. However, not all the definitions are actually different from one another; there is a substantial commonality among them with certain differences in the emphasis on some aspect or the other.
Population education is broadly defined as an educational intervention aimed at helping individuals in understanding the interrelationship between population and development, in appreciating the determinants and consequences of population processes and changes, in assessing the possible actions that they and their respective families and communities can take to modify these processes and in carrying out selected actions. It is a part of total social learning process and based on the premise that an educational intervention which helps the learners define problems and search for solutions will have greater impact than the prescriptive programme that employs only assertions.
CHAPTER THREE
MARRIAGE, RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD, POPULATION CHANGE AND RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT, AND POPULATION RELATED BELIEFS AND VALUES.
The National Policy on Education 1986 which reflected the magnitude of the major causes and consequences of rapid population growth also specified "promotion of observance of small family norm" as one of the core curricular areas to be reflected in the national system of education. It provided an appropriate context to reconceptualise population education. Moreover, nearly half of the ten core curricular areas identified by the policy document such as equality of sexes, protection of environment, removal of social barriers, and inculcation of scientific temper were considered critical for realising population education objectives.
During the process of revision of the conceptual framework of population education in India, six major themes: family size and family welfare, delayed marriage, responsible parenthood, population change and resource development, population related values and beliefs, and status of women were identified. The scheme of content was prepared by drawing contents relating to these major themes from the following six content areas: economic development, social development, environment and resources, family life, health and nutrition, and demographic implications. The reconceptualised framework also emphasised the strategy of integrating maximum contents at minimum points in order to provide comprehensive treatment to contents to make the integration of population education elements in the textbooks more effective. The new conceptual framework defined population education as an education in the interrelationships among population, development, resources, environment and quality of life.
Population and Sustainable Development
A. Population Growth and Structure: Implications for Population Stabilisation:
Population Growth, Fertility, Mortality, Age and Sex Structure - Implications in terms of the interrelationships between population change and the pace and quality of economic and social development, patterns and levels of use of natural resources and the state of environment; Infants, Children and Youth - Need to promote to the fullest extent the health and well-being of infants, children and youth in the context of attaining the goal of population stabilisation; Elderly People - Increasing rate of life expectancy, need for health care and social and economic security and enhancement of their self-reliance; Persons with disabilities - Conditions for the realisation of the rights of persons with disabilities, valuing their capabilities and dignity, promotion of their self-reliance.
B. Population, Sustained Economic Growth and Poverty : Integration of population issues in the development strategies - Planning, decision-making and resource allocation for meeting the needs of all, promoting social justice and eradication of poverty; Interrelationship between eradication of poverty and population stabilisation; Sustainable patterns and levels of resource utilisation, production and consumption; Sustained economic growth and status of women; Creation of job opportunities in the industrial, agricultural and service sectors, promoting self-employment.
C. Population and Environment : Interrelationship between population, development, natural resources, use of technology and quality of life - Socio-economic dimensions of sustainable development, such as poverty, consumption style, human health and human settlement; Sustainable management of resources - Unsustainable consumption and production patterns and their impact on environment, need for fostering sustainable resource use and prevention of environmental degradation; Environmental Pollution Air, Water, Land and Noise: impact on health and quality of life; Use of technology in agriculture, industry and other aspects of life styles - Impact on the sustainability of resources and environmental degradation; Interrelations between women and environmental issues; Future increases in population numbers and changes in concentration and distribution, particularly in ecologically vulnerable and urban agglomerations.
II. Gender Equality and Equity for Empowerment of Women
A. Gender Equality and Equity: Equality and equity based on harmonious partnership between man and woman in different spheres of life; Promoting the fulfillment of women’s potential through health care, education, skill development, ability to earn beyond traditional occupations, employment opportunities outside the household, and making them self-reliant; Empowerment and autonomy of women and improvement of their social, economic and political status; participation in the decision making process at various levels; Participation in all aspects of production, employment, income generating activities, science and technology, sports, culture, political processes and public life, and population related activities; Need to redefine the role-stereotypes and the social worth of women; Discriminations against women; Need to eliminate violence against women.
B. The Girl Child : Need for change in the perception of the social worth of the girl child; Equal treatment of girls and boys; Elimination of discrimination; Adequate health care and nutrition, education and opportunities for realisation of the full potential of the girl child; Role-stereotypes and discrimination within the family; Impact of prenatal sex selection, female infanticide and higher rate of girl child mortality; Trafficking in girl children; Need to strengthen self-image, self-esteem and status of the girl child; recognition of the special needs of girls.
C. Male Responsibilities : Need for change in their knowledge, attitude and behaviour as necessary condition for achieving the harmonious partnership of men and women; appreciation of the key role of males in bringing about gender equality; Participation in all areas of family and household activities; Shared responsibilities of responsible parenthood; Parental care of child health, education; Equal treatment to daughter and son; Care for mother and elimination of violence against women and children.
III. Adolescent Reproductive Health (Adolescence Education)
A. Process of Growing Up : Physical change and development during adolescence Phases of adolescence, male and female body clock, conception and pregnancy, pre and post-natal care, adolescent pregnancy; Socio-cultural development - Emotional development, identity development,, body image, self-esteem and self-concept, social relationships, changing relationships with parents, peer groups and the opposite sex; Gender Roles-Stereotyped gender role development, proper gender role development.
B. HIV/AIDS : Basic information - Meaning of HIV/AIDS, routes of transmission, effects of HIV infection, how HIV is not transmitted, STDs and AIDS; HIV/AIDS. Prevention and control - Sexual relationships, blood, mother to child, no risk behaviour, risky behaviour, sexually transmitted diseases.
C. Drug Abuse : What is drug and drug abuse, factors promoting drug abuse, symptoms of drug addiction, drug dependence, effects of drug abuse, myths and misconceptions about drug intake, prevention and responsibility.
IV. Family : Socio-cultural Factors and Quality of Life
A. Family as Basic Unit of Society : Importance of institutions of marriage and family; Process of rapid demographic change and socioeconomic development - their impact on patterns of family composition and traditional notions of gender-based division of parental and domestic functions; Shared role and responsibilities of the members; equality of opportunities for all in the family, ensuring especially the rights of women and children; Participation of women in decision-making in the family; Female contribution to family income and welfare; Equal opportunities to female members for working outside the household and traditional occupation; Status of the girl child: Elimination of stereotyping and discrimination against her in the family; appropriate opportunities to girls for education; Care for health and nutrition and overall development of girls.
B. Socio-Economic Support to the Family: Basic needs: housing, food, clothes, health, education, social security and work; Need to promote social environment against domestic and sexual violence, dowry, drug dependence, child abuse, neglecting or abandoning women, old and handicapped members, extreme poverty and chronic unemployment.
V. Health and Education : Key Determinants of population Change
A. Health, Morbidity and Mortality: Interrelationship between health, morbidity and mortality, population change and quality of life; Need for universal availability, accessibility and affordability of primary health care, including reproductive health care; need to reduce morbidity and mortality differentials between males and females as well as among geographical regions and social classes; Support to the role of women as primary custodians of family health and their access to basic health care, including reproductive health care services.
B. Child Survival: Linkages between child survival and timing, spacing, number of births and reproductive health of mothers; Reduction of disparities between male and female child care; Causes and consequences of infant and child mortality, and especially girl infant and girl child mortality; Need to, improve the health and nutritional status of infants and children.
C. Health of Women and Safe Motherhood: Health of women as a key factor for quality of life in a family and society; promotion of women’s health through primary health care services; Improvement of the health and nutritional status of women, especially of pregnant and nursing women; Need to reduce the morbidity and mortality among women including maternal mortality.
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