Formal population education is designed to teach children in school
about basic population issues and, in many cases, to encourage them
eventually to have smaller families. Some programs include specific
units on human reproduction and family planning, while others do not.
National population education programs began during the 1970s in about a
dozen countries, mainly in Asia. These include Bangladesh, India,
Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Sri
Lanka, Singapore, Thailand, Egypt, Tunisia, and El Salvador. A strong
case can be made for including an important contemporary issue like
population in the school curriculum. Nevertheless, educational
innovation is a difficult and long-term process. As a rule, it takes 5
to 10 years before new material can be fully incorporated in a school
curriculum. Curriculum changes must be carefully planned, thousands of
teachers trained, and appropriate materials prepared for classroom use.
Moreover, differences of opinion over the need, acceptability, goals,
content, methods, and other aspects of population education have held
back programs in some countries. Where population education programs
have been implemented, student knowledge of population issues increases,
but it is not yet clear whether in-school education has a measurable
impact on fertility-related attitudes or behavior.
Formal population education aims to teach school children about basic population issues and to encourage them eventually to have smaller families. It is vital to include population in the school curriculum because population and family life issues are an important aspect of many personal, community, and national decisions. National population education programs began in about a dozen countries, mostly Asian, during the 1970's. The most extensive school program is in the Philippines and includes all 12 grades. Other countries are carrying out smaller-scale activities within the school system. In the absence of government population policies, as in Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka, in-school programs emphasize "population literacy", e.g., learning about population issues from different viewpoints to enable students to make rational personal decisions. Teachers play a crucial role in the success of a population education program. Training teachers in population issues is a massive task and requires continued guidance. Some training strategies include: 1) face-to-face training by experts/supervisors in short courses or workshops; 2) peer training, in which trained teachers instruct other teachers in schools; 3) Self-Learning Educational Modules which introduce teachers to population education through self-explanatory booklets; and 4) correspondence courses using standard population education training materials. However, these strategies have not always proved practical and effective. Teaching materials that have proved most successful are those which the teachers themselves helped to prepare. The most efficient way to incorporate population topics into teaching materials is during a comprehensive curriculum revision; another is to include questions about population on standardized national or regional examinations. Although funding from international organizations has helped stimulate programs, implementation in most countries has been slow. What is needed is a long-term national effort to institutionalize a national program.
Formal population education aims to teach school children about basic population issues and to encourage them eventually to have smaller families. It is vital to include population in the school curriculum because population and family life issues are an important aspect of many personal, community, and national decisions. National population education programs began in about a dozen countries, mostly Asian, during the 1970's. The most extensive school program is in the Philippines and includes all 12 grades. Other countries are carrying out smaller-scale activities within the school system. In the absence of government population policies, as in Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka, in-school programs emphasize "population literacy", e.g., learning about population issues from different viewpoints to enable students to make rational personal decisions. Teachers play a crucial role in the success of a population education program. Training teachers in population issues is a massive task and requires continued guidance. Some training strategies include: 1) face-to-face training by experts/supervisors in short courses or workshops; 2) peer training, in which trained teachers instruct other teachers in schools; 3) Self-Learning Educational Modules which introduce teachers to population education through self-explanatory booklets; and 4) correspondence courses using standard population education training materials. However, these strategies have not always proved practical and effective. Teaching materials that have proved most successful are those which the teachers themselves helped to prepare. The most efficient way to incorporate population topics into teaching materials is during a comprehensive curriculum revision; another is to include questions about population on standardized national or regional examinations. Although funding from international organizations has helped stimulate programs, implementation in most countries has been slow. What is needed is a long-term national effort to institutionalize a national program.
