Unit 1 Population Education: Concept and Development PDF

UNIT 1 POPULATION EDUCATION: CONCEPT AND DEVELOPMENT Structure 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Objectives 1.2 Population Education: Concept and Significance 1.2.1 Concept and Features of Population Education 1.2.1.1 Nature and Meaning of Population Education 1.2.1.2 Definition of Population Education 1.2.1.3 DistinguishingAttributes of Population Education ' 1.2.2 Need and Significance of Population Education 1.2.2.1 Need 1.2.2.2 Significance 1.3 Population Education: Objectives and Scope 1.3.1 Objectives and Goals of Population Education 1.3.1.1 Objectives of Population Education 1.3.1.2 Goals of Population Education 1.3.2 Scope of Population Education 1.4 Development of Population Education: An Overview 1.4.1 Origin and Growth of Population Education at International Level 1.4.2 Growth and Development of Population Education in India 1.4.2.1 Population Education in School Education Sector 1.4.2.2 Population Education in Adult and Non-Formal Education Sector 1.4.2.3 Population Education in Higher Education Sector 1.5 Let Us Sum Up 1.6 Answers to 'Check Your Progress' Questions 1.7 References 1.0 INTRODUCTION We are aware that there is intricate relationship between population and development, both at micro and macro levels. Every individual, family, community and nation desires to achieve better standard of living. But, an undisputed fact is that any increase or decrease in population will have its relative impact on development in the given context - family, community, nation and the world. As* you have studied in Course MAE-004, the concept of development is very comprehensive, and understanding of the relationship between population and development becomes highly complex given the qualitative and quantitative variables of development. In this context, it is appropriate for you to revisit MAE 004 "Extension Education and Development", in particular the concept of development and the factors that influence it. Decisions of individuals, families, communities and the nations regarding population matters will have their implications for development at micro and macro levels and overall quality of life of people. At the national level, decisions related to population change - increasing or decreasing it - are a matter of 7 % Populati0nandDevel0pment population policy, which may be pro-natalist or anti-natalist. However, the Education: An Overview emphases in these policies and programmes vary from nation to nation based on the political, social and cultural, environmental and other aspects. And, population education in many countries has emerged in response to population problems and issues, and in particular as part of their policies. It is an indirect means to attain national demographic goals by influencing the people's knowledge, attitudes and practices or behaviour towards such problems and issues. 1. OBJECTIVES In this Unit we, therefore, attempt to highlight the concept, significance, scope and development of population education. After going through this Unit, we expect you to be able to: Define the concept of population education; Explain the need and significance of population education; State the goals and objectives of population education; Discuss the aspects and scope of population education; and Describe the origin, growth and development of population (and development) education including its present status. 1.2 POPULATION EDUCATION: CONCEPT AND SIGNIFICANCE World population which was 300,000,000 in 1 AD took 1700 years to increase (double itself) to 640,000,000, but it took only 150 years to double itself again to reach 1,265,000,000 by 1850, and after that only, 100 years to double itself to touch 2,5 16,000,000 figure by 1950 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World- population-estimates). At this stage (i.e. in 1950s), such unprecedented phenomenal growth of world population has received global attention. When the population changes began to affect the development and quality of life of people at individual, familial, community, national and international level, debate started on problems and issues of population followed by efforts to control the same. That was the beginning of the efforts to control population both at global and national levels. Efforts to promote direct methods of population control such as adoption of family planning by people have not yielded adequate results due to lack of understanding and motivation at individual and familial levels to adopt family planning methods and techniques. Thus, population education has been identified as one of the effective interventionist strategies to influence adoption of family planning by the eligible couple and other age-groups of population through imparting necessary knowledge, attitudes, skills and practices in respect of population matters. Yet, by 1995, once again the figure has more than doubled (reached 5,760,000,000) in just 45 years. Further, it crossed 7 billion mark on 3 1 October 20 11. As a result, population education has acquired increasing global attention in view of its place in the overall developmentof the individuals,families,communities, nations and the world. It is, therefore, essential for us to understand the concept and significance of population education at national and international levels. Population Education: 1.2.1 Concept and Features of Population Education Concept and Development Population problem is a man-made problem and hence solution to it also lies in human mind and actions only. The solution becomes sound and possible by educating the people about the population issues and problems. So, population education, in simplest terms, is the education on or related to population matters. But, the term population matters is very wide and includes many things, and delimiting these matters is not an easy task. It refers to the conceptual understanding of both 'population' and 'education' and encompasses all that is related to population matters - situation, issues, problems, etc. Population, in general, refers to the total number of people inhabiting in a specified geographical area, be it a village, taluk, district, country or the world as a whole; or belonging to any particular race, religion, sex, class, caste, group, community, and so on. Education is the process that imparts, improves or changes the knowledge, information, understanding, attitudes, skills, abilities, practices and so on of the people for their effective performance in life as an individual and as a member of the family, society, nation and the world. Having considered the two terms, 'population' and 'education' as above, deciding on what sort of education can be imparted to which section of population, on what population matters and to what extent poses a serious challenge to population educators and educationists. Broadly speaking, the population matters include: a) the size, structure, distribution, density, growth, etc, of population; b) the trends in population change at different levels - local, state, national and global as well as the factors that determine or influence these changes; c) the consequences of population change on different aspects of human life - social, religious, economic, political, cultural, etc, and also on environment and ecological balance; d) the human reproductive system, the process of conception, the progress of pregnancy and delivery, reproductive health and rights, etc; and e) various measures of population control, viz. i) individual - different temporary and permanent methods and techniques of family planning; ii) national - national population policy and programmes; and iii) international - agencies engaged in providing different types of support such as financial, material and human to various population control efforts in different countries. In fact, it clearly covers any or all matters related to population that influence(s) development, standard of living and quality of life. Thus, population matters are comprehensive and all-embracing and together form the content of population education that enables people or the target groups to take rational and responsible decisions in respect of these matters. 1.2.1.1 Nature and Meaning of Population Education Populatioti matters are not constant and keep changing.Accordingly, the concept of population education has gradually evolved by adapting itself to the changing needs, requirements and emerging issues and concerns. While promotion of the observance of the small family norm has been the basic concern of population Population andDevelopment education, its approach has been to present to the students (the target groups) the Education: An Overview multi-faceted aspects of population situation at micro and macro levels with clear-cut emphasis on cause and effect relationship between different aspects and factors of population. Conceptualisationof population education is, of course, a question of emphasis, rooted in complex socio-cultural and historical differences. Since the population situation is not expected to remain static, the concept of population education also cannot bz expected to remain unchanged. "Although some countries do not openly accept any kind of sex education or family planning education in schools, they do realise the need for including some content related to these areas in the population education curriculum. A number of surveys conducted in some countries in Asia vouch to this change in the perception of people and their acceptance to include sex education related contents in the framework of population education" (Sharma, 1991, p. 10). In many countries of Asia and the Pacific region there is cultural and religious resistance to including any kind of family planning or sex education component in school curricula. Sex education is still considered 'untouchable' in many countries in Asia, although some countries such as the Republic of Korea and the Philippines have included family planning and sexuality as a part of population education curriculum in schools. In Fiji, sex education is a major component of family-life education. It should, however, be noted that in Latin America and to a lesser degree in fiancophone Africa, 'sex education' may be the most accepted term for what has been called 'population education' in Asia (Ibid, pp.9- 10). Population change and development are interdependent. Population change at any level - family, community or nation - is the result of the decisions based on certain considerations, which they consider rational in the given situatiodcontext. Whether the decisions are rational or not depends upon their understanding of all the relevant matters at that level. This is what precisely means population education - knowledge, understanding, attitudes and practicesibehaviours of people in respect of their population situation - which is intended to lead to such - population change that influences their quality of life, among others, at present and in the future as well. It, thus, has bearing on population matters at micro and macro levels both at present and in the future. Population education, therefore, means and includes all educational efforts aimed at presenting to people the population situation, its determinants, consequences and controlling measures in scientific manner with a view to developing among theq the rational and responsible decision-making ability in respect of population regulation for better quality of life at present and in future for themselves and for their off-spring. 1.2.1.2. Definition of Population Education Population education, being innovative programme of education, needs to be clearly understood. Given the cultural diversities and different target groups to be educated on population matters, it may be difficult to give one definition of population education which can be universally accepted. Further, definitions may be directive or non-directive. Also, the definitions based on directive approach differ in their specific behavioural outcomes such as promotion of acceptance of a small family norm, contraceptives, etc. For instance, the assertion that 'a small family is a happy family is not universally true for there are many instances of bigger families being happy families. The pursuit of such an objective may have PopuIation Education: Concept and Development psychological implications for children who come from large families' (Sharma, 1991, p. 11). While the directive definitions of population education may be controversial, non-directive definitions will be non-controversial. In India, the first crucial attempts at defining population education and developing its conceptual framework with a scheme of contents were made in the National Seminar on Population Education held at Bombay in 1969. It was regarded as 'a motivational force for creating right attitudes to family size and the need for family planning methods' (Rao, 1969). In the same seminar, Chandrasekhar ( 1969) regarded population education as 'the statistics, economics and sociology of the growth of -population, its distribution and relation to the standard of living, and - its ultimate economic and social consequences'. I UNESCO made an attempt to define population education in internationally 1 acceptable manner: "Population education is an educational programme which provides for a study of the population situation in the family, community, nation i and the world, with the purpose of developing in the students rational and responsible attitude and behaviour towards that situation" (UNESCO, 1971, p. 13). From this definition, one can understand two important attributes of population education. Firstly, it is an educational programme that provides for a study of population situation at different levels. Secondly, it is intended to develop rational i and responsible attitude and behaviour towards that situation. The words 'rational'. and 'responsible' are quite relative and the baseslcriteria to establish a decision X.' on a population matter as rational and responsible vary widely depending upon. the context at a given level. Thus, the term 'population situation' is not amenable 2. ' for any precise definition. This is so because, what is rational and responsible to ' one - be it individual, society or nation - may be absolutely irrational and irresponsible to others. However, reflecting on all such details in any definition will be extremely difficult task, as there cannot be any hard and fast rule in this regard. Nevertheless, the above definition of population education is accepted by the majority of countries in the world. However, individual experts do differ and offer their own definitions. Massialas (1972, p.44) defined population education as "the teaching and learning of reliable knowledge about the ways of inquiring into the nature of human population and the natural and human consequences of population change". This definition stresses the 'reliable knowledge of ways of inquiring' thus intends to promote skills and abilities of the target group related to researching into population matters to enable them to learn on their own about these matters. Lane and Wile- (1974, p. 10) defined population education as "the study of human population and how it affects and is affected by several aspects of life: physical, social, cultural, political, economic and ecological". This definition attempts to include the study of the repercussions of population change on several aspects of life and vice versa. Viederman (1974, p.3 19) defines population education as an educational process which assists persons: a) to learn the probable causes and consequences of population phenomena for themselves and for their communities (including the world); b) to define for themselves and for their communities the nature of the Population and Development the possible effective means by which society as a whole and the person as an Education: An Overview individual can respond to and influence these processes in order to enhance the quality of life now and in the future. Thus, the conceptions and definitions are, on the whole, shrouded with epistemological difficulties. Several persons and institutions have conceived and defined population education in different ways depending upon their knowledge, own perceptions and points of view. Some defined it in terms of its aims and objectives or in terms of the behavioural outcomes expected of population education, while some others defined it by giving a list of its contents. They conceived it as synonymous to family planninglbirth control or contraceptive education or family life education or population studies or demography. While some definitions are directive aimed at achieving the acceptance of small family norm, some others are non-directive aimed at the development of rational and responsible attitudes and behaviour towards family size and other population matters (Lakshmi Reddy, 1993, pp.9-10). We can thus notice that the emphasis in different definitions is on bringing changes in the knowledge, understanding, attitudes and behaviour or practices/response of people in respect of population situation and ways and means of its regulation or control for bbtter quality of life. 1.2.1.3 Distinguishing Attributes of Population Education Lakshmi Reddy (1994, p.47) presents the following as distinguishing attributes / features of population education. i) It is an educationalprogramme designed to make learners understand the inter-relationship among population situation, change, development and aspects of quality of human life. ii) Its ultimate goal is to make learners contribute to the improvement of the quality of human life, now and in some future time. iii) It ispopulationproblem-centred, hence lends itself to discovery and inquiry learning processes. If the population related problems are non-existent then the question of population education does not arise at all. iv) It is a value-laden subject, hence more open to the use of values-clarification approach to learning, i.e. to pose realistic alternatives, to examine consequences of each alternative and to enable learners to make sound decisions for action on population issues. Population education, thus, is more sensitive and warrants skilful handling of it in multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi- racial societies or nations. v) It is multi-disciplinary and derives its content from demography, population studies, biology, statistics, sociology, psychology, economics and other disciplines. 1.2.2 Need and Significance of Population Education Population Education: 1.2.2.1 Need Concept and Development As mentioned elsewhere above, world population which was 300,000,000 in 1 AD took 1700 years to double itself, for its W h e r doubling it took only 150 years (by 1850), for the next doubling only 100 years (by 1950), and after that (by 1995) only 45 years to double itself to reach the figure of 5,760,000,000.It is W h e r estimated that it is likely to cross 9,352,000,000 by 2050. China is the world's most populous country, with about 1.34 billion people in 2010. It's closest rival, India, has 1.21 billion people but is expected to have more people than China by the year 2030 as a result of having a less successful family planning policy than China. Both, China and India together account for a third of the world's population (http://factsanddetails.corn/china.php?itemid=129 &catid=4&subcatid=15). India is estimated to increase its population by about 18 million every year -- the size of Australia. While India alone is adding one Australia to it every year, the world population is likely to add one India or China to its population every decade. There is thus pressing need to spread population education in the countries like India and China and all developing countries in particular and the world in general, which suffer from the problems of ever increasing population. The human beings, by contributing to rapid growth of their population, are endangering their individual, familial, social and national well-being. It is thus a man-made problem and effective solution should, therefore, also evolve from his rational thinking and action - rational mind and behaviour. That is possible mainly through educating people about their role in respect of population problems and issues - population education. 1.2.2.2 Significance In the light of the above discussion, the significance of population education is explained below. 1) Many developing countries have started Family Planning programmes in 1950's and 1960's to curb their population growth rates. But, these programmes were aimed at only the population in the reproductive age group (15-44 years). Population below 14 years of age which ranges between 35- 60 percent of population in many countries are left out from the purview of family planning education. This group that constitutes the adult population in the coming years (future) is a potent source of fertility. Therefore, it is the cultivation of desirable attitudes among this group of youngsters towards population matters that can provide potential and viable solution to the continuing problem. Further, the need to catch them young is thus obvious and, hence, population education becomes more relevant as an important instrument to develop in them rational attitudes and responsible behaviour towards population problems. 2) Like education, population education is a life-long process; it cannot be considered as co-terminus with formal schooling. To face different population problems arising from time to time, population education becomes essential at all other levels and forms of education such as non-formal education. Hence, population education has its significance at all levels of education through all forms of education. 13 Po~ulahnandDevelo~ment 3) Increasing population will continue to affect the quality of life of people Education: An Overview leading in general to deficiency of food and inadequate facilities for education and health, among others. Further, the other social problems such as crime, violence, anti-social activities, juvenile delinquency, terrorism, etc., and ' environmental problems such as pollution, global warming, ecological imbalance would also increase. Population education only can provide lasting solutions to ali such problems. 4) Population education bcing an educational programme is capable of influencingthe knowledge. skills, attitudes and practices of people in respect of population matters. It has been shown by many investigations that knowledge influences attitudes and attitudes in turn influence practices. Population education, therefore, becomes a pre-condition for desirable practices in respect of population matters. 5) Every country in the world strives to increase the quality of life of its people. Over population in any country would certainly have adverse impact on the quality of life of people. Hence, either to increase the quality of life or to maintain the existing quality of life, the population must not be allowed to grow beyond its resources and, therefore, its control assumes significance. As one of the strategies, every nation is involved in educating its people in matters pertaining to population with the purpose of enabling them to take Check Your Progress Notes: a) Space given below the question is for writing your answer. b) Check your answer with the one given at the end of this unit under "Answers to 'Check Your Progress' Questions". 1) Define population education................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2) What are the distinguishing attributes of population education?................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Population Education: 3). Explain the need and significance of population education Concept and Development................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ i................................................................................................................ I................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 4) What are population matters that form the broad contents of population education?................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 1.3 POPULATION EDUCATION: OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE In this section, we will focus on the objectives, goals and scope of population education. 1.3.1 Objectives and Goals Population Education We know that the goals are broad and quite general in nature and are meant to be realised in the long term, while the objectives are narrow, precise, specific and sought to be achieved in the short term. The goals are general intentions which are abstract and intangible, while the objectives are concrete and tangible. The goals can't be validated as such while the objectives can be validated. With this. clarity on the differences between goals and objectives we will now lock at the objectives of population education. 1.3.1.1 Objectives of Population Education The first 'United Nations Population Conference' held in 1954 in Rome had drawn global attention towards population problems. Subsequently, different countries began their efforts in the form of population policies and programmes, which later have been revised time and again in tune with the national and international developments. Of course, India is the first country to have official population policy during the first Five Year Plan (195 1-56) itself - when National Family Planning Programme (NFPP) was launched by focussing on 'clinical approach'. But, the beginning of population education in India can be traced to the third Five Year Plan (196 1-66) when NFPP was given extension-orientation with 'cafeteria approach' to family planning. Thus, population education has 15 PopulrtionandDevelopment emerged as an indirect means to strengthen direct intervention strategies and Education: An Overview approaches aimed at attaining the national demographic goals. "UNESCO's Gerleral Conference declared in 1968that the purpose of UNESCO's activities in the field of population should be to promote a better understanding of the serious responsibilities which population growth imposes on individuals, nations and the whole international community. In 1970, it authorised the Director- General to assist Member-States, on request, in the elaboration of population and family planning policies: and in 1972 it recommended that the Director- General promote, by means of education and information, a clearer insight among the public into the nature, causes and coilsequences of demographic trends. The General Conference of UNESCO at its sevcntcenth session adopted resolution 1.221 authorising the Director-General to pursue and undertake activities designed inter-alia for the promotion of population education" (Sharma, 1991, p.8). Thus, time and again, the focus of population activities and education has been changing around certain core contents. Nevertheless, in view of different socio-cultural backgrounds and population policies of different countries, the specific objectives of population education may be different. In India, the following objectives have been decided at a workshop organised by NCERT (1971a, pp.9-10) which stand as the general objectives of the country even today: i) to develop an understanding of some demographic concepts and processes; ii) to develop among the younger generation an understanding of the most important phenomenon of the modem world viz., rapid growth of population and its causes; iii) to develop an understanding of the influence of population trends on the various aspects of human life - social, cultural, political and economic; iv) to develop an understanding of the close interaction of population growth and the developmental process with particular reference to development programmes for raising the standard of living'of people; v) to develop an understanding of the evil effects of over population on the environment and the concomitant dangers from pollution; vi) to develop an understanding of scientific and medical advancement enabling to get an increasing control over famines, diseases and ultimately death and the imbalance thus created between death rate and birth rate; vii) to develop an understanding of biological factors and phenomenon of reproduction which are responsible for continuance of the species; viii) to develop an appreciation of: a) the small family norm as proper and desirable; b) the relation between population size and the quality of life; and c) the fact that family size is a matter of deliberate choice and human regulation rather than of accident or forces beyond human control; ix) to develop an attitude of responsibility and mutual help and cooperation in all aspects of personal and family living; x) to develop an appreciation of the relationship between the preservation of the health of the mother, the welfare of the children and the small size of the 16 family; Population Education: xi) to develop an appreciation of the fact that the actions of each individual Concept and Development member of the society affects others, and personal and national decisions concerning family size and population have long range consequences for I the whole world; xii) to develop an awareness of population policies and programmes of the country; and xiii) to provide students with a basic demographic vocabulary so that they are able to read and interpret demographic material with some understanding. "The main objective of population education should be to enable the students to understand that family size is controllable,that population limitation can facilitate /. the development of a higher quality of life in the nation, and that a small family size can contribute materially to the quality of living for the individual family. It should also enable the students to appreciate the fact that for preserving the health and welfare of the members of the family, for ensuring the economic stability of the family and for assuring good prospects for the younger generation, the Indian families of today and tomorrow should be small and compact..." (NCERT, 1971a, pp.7-8). Depending upon the specific objectives the content, scope, etc., of population education may vary from community to community, from society to society and form country to country. "In some countries, population education was instituted in response to the recommendation of the World Plan of Action, which stated that government should consider making provision in both the formal and non- formal educational programmes for informing their people on the consequences of existing or alternate 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" (United Nations, 1974, in Sharma, 1991, p.9). Though the above mentioned objectives are specific to India, they are more or less like the broad general objectives that are appropriate for any country. Yet, the specific objectives of population education differ slightly or significantly from country to country. Also, they are different for different grade levels and target groups within a particular country. It will, therefore, not be appropriate here to list the specific objectives or go into the details related to different grade levels. However, in the words of Sharma (1991, p. 16) although countries differ in respect of specific objectives of their population education programmes, the general objectives are more or less the same. According to him, the following general objectives could very well represent the nature of population education. 1) To develop awareness and understanding about: a) population situation - national and world; b) basic demographic concepts and theories; c) processes and determinants of population change; d) concept of quality of life in different socio-cultural settings; e) inter-relationship between population change and different aspects of quality of life at micro and macro levels; f) consumption explosion and its implications on quality of life for others; 17 Population and Development g) human reproduction, eugenics and family welfare; and Education: An Overview h) population policies, plans and programmes. 2) To develop the ability to assess the quality of life implications in relation to population change and consumption of resources, now and in the future, for oneself, one's community, nation and the world. 3) To develop rational attitudes, values and skills for taking responsible decisions and actions regarding population related issues and improvement of quality of life. Since the first UN Population Conference held in 1954 the Governments, donors and the practitioner-agencies involved in pkmoting the scientific knowledge and understanding on population matters popularly used the term 'population education'. The fifth International Conference on Population and Development held in 1994 came out with 10-year Programme of Action and had given due recognition to sexual and reproductive health, and reproductive rights and fieedom. of individuals in the overall context of simultaneously and comprehensively addressing the issues of both population and development. With increase in national measures such as national population policy and programmes, and international measures such as involvement of international agencies in providing different types of support - financial, material, human, technical, etc - to the policies and programmes of different countries, population education has become more popular as population and development education at global level. One can - see the close linkages between the 10-year Programme of Action prepared by ICPD held in Cairo in 1994 and its follow-up that informed the Millennium Summit in 2000 in setting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Since then, population education became an integral part of development efforts aimed - at achieving the MDGs as well as the 10-year review held in 20 10. Thus, 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was a milestone in the history of population and development, and accordingly the Governments, donors and the practitioner-agencies, in tune with the above declaration, have changed the nomenclature of 'population education' to 'population and development education'. But, the definition of 'population and development education' remained same as the definition of 'population education' and accordingly its objectives also remained the same. 1.3.1.2 Goals of Population Education The ultimate goal of population education is to enable the individuals to extend k their understanding, attitudes, perspective and practices related to population I2 matters - issues and problems - in a way that is personally meaningful and 58 familially, socially, nationally and globally relevant. Population policies and programmes in different countries are the result of policy makers' perceptions of and reflections on the population situation, its trends, problems, repercussions and relevance to national development at present and in future. Apopulation policy consists of both the formulation of and articulation by the government of some population objectives or a set of objectives that maximise the public welfare and levels of living. Population policies are "measures and programmes designed to contribute to the achievement of economic, social, demographic, political and other collective goals through affecting critical demographic variables, namely, the size and growth of 18 population, its geographic distribution (national and international), and its Population Education: Concept and Development demographic characteristics(UNESCO, 1974, in Premi and Saxena, 1991,p. 106). It involves the commitment and manipulation of resources in pursuit of the population policy and programmes. To sum up, the major goals of population education as part of population policies and programmes include the following. To develop in the individuals appropriate knowledge, understanding, skills and abilities to identify, analyse, define and address the problems and issues of population and development in a way that is personally meaningful, familially advantageous, socially relevant, nationally progressive, developmentally sustainable and.globally welfare-oriented. To contribute to the realisation of the goals and objectives of national population policies and programmes by affecting critical demographic variables that have significant relevance to the achievement of economic, social, demographic, political and other collective goals of the nation. All the eight MDGs set by Millennium Summit 2000 are intricately linked to population and development matters only. The goals of population and development education have thus become the integral part of the MDGs given below. J Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger J Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education J Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women J Goal 4: Reduce child mortality rates J Goal 5: Improve maternal health J Goal 6: Combat HIVIAIDS, malaria, and other diseases J Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability J Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development In 20 10, the UN system reviewed progress, identified gaps and explored ways to accelerate progress in a series of events leading up to the MDG 10-YearReview. 1.3.2 Scope of Population Education From the foregoing discussion in sections 1.2 and 1.3 it is possible to draw out the content of population education that provide us an idea of the scope of population education. To begin with, it was essentially demography-laden. In course of time, the content has been elaborated and specified to include various other concepts, thus enlarging the scope of population education. The 1974 World Plan of Action adopted at Bucharest stressed that "educational institutions in all countries should be encouraged to expand their curricula to include a study of population dynamics and policies, including where appropriate family life, responsible parenthood and the relation of population dynamics to socio-economic development and to international relations". According to Mehta (1982, pp.35-39) demography (the population situation), determinants of population growth, and consequences of population growth form the core components of population education which are more or less universally accepted. To m'ake population education more comprehensive, sex education Population andDevelopment with two elements - human reproduction and family planning - is also added to Education:An Overview it so as to gear it to the needs of the country. In fact, sex education as a component ofpopulation education will help a lot in removing the blind beliefs of the people regarding the birth of the child. For instance, many people in India and many other developing countries consider child birth as gift of the gods, which in fact is not correct. Once they understand the process of conception and child birth and are convinced of it, there is every likelihood of they rejecting their blind -beliefon child birth. Besides, there are many blind beliefs regarding sex including its determination which can also be effectively eliminated through sex education. Although virtually all population education programmes espouse an open-ended, non-prescriptive approach in their goals and objectives, the content as well as approach is, often implicitly and sometimes explicitly, directed more towards the specific goal of promoting a small family norm. The funding agencies also want to see the effect of population education programmes on the reproductive behaviour of the target audience. This is more true for out-of-school youth and adults (Sharma, 1991, p.20). What is even more important in the case of population education is the full understanding and appreciation, on the part of all concerned, of its nature, objectives, content and methodology and the acquisition of professional skills and competencies in its transmission to different kinds of clientele - students, teachers and other educational functionaries (Seshadri and Pandey, 1991, p.ix). Further, the content and scope of population education also differ based on the policy and programme objectives and also the target group. The family life education programme in Afghanistan is intended to 'design and organise functional literacy programmes for the rural and urban women related to family health, better family living and family guidance, while in Malaysia it intends to strengthen family development programme by broadening the scope of its family planning component to family life education. Besides family planning, the need for the improvement of quality of life of the individual, family and community are given emphasis to contribute to the achievement of general objectives of the family development programme (Sharma, 1991, pp. 14- 15). Although opinions differ with regard to the nature and content of a population education programme for youth and adults, the information on sex and family life is considered to be of immediate relevance to both, youth and adults. This fiuther widens the scope of population education so as to include family planning, sex education and population policies in it. So, broadly and in general, it can be said to include: i) demography (includes the determinants and causes of population change); ii) consequences of population growth on vari~us'as~ects of human life -biological, social, economic and cultural; environment and ecological balance, and on development and welfare programmes of the country; iii) family life education; and iv) population policies and programmes. Nevertheless, the quality of life has increasingly been the focal aspect of population education. Consequent upon the stipulation made in the National Policy on Education 1986, it has become value-laden as well as quality of life 20 Population Education: improvement-oriented. In view of this, NCERT (1988) has built the conceptual Concept and Development framework around six major themes. These are: i) family size and family welfare, ii) delayed marriage, iii) responsible parenthood, iv) population change and resource development, v) population related beliefs and values, and vi) status of women. The content focussing on these themes is drawn from six content areas: i) population and economic development, ii) population and social development, iii) population, environment and resources, iv) population and family life, v) population, health and nutrition, and vi) population dynamics. The emerging issues such as problems of adolescents, sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS, urbanisation and concern for the aged are woven into this conceptual framework. Further, the attitude and value-orientation of individuals are shaped by their socialisation process. Therefore, population education should provide a suitable setting for values-clarification and development of scientific temper (Parakh and Pandey, 1991, pp.3 1-34). Since population education is a value-laden area, one is bound to deal with many value- related issues of population even in implementing this programme. "These issues arise because of the differences in the social, cultural, religious, economic and political systems and values of the people. Most of the values are so deep-rooted in the socio-cultural milieu of the people that concerned and continuous effort is needed to change them. During the last decade or so countries with population education programmes have developed a rich experience in dealing with these issues and as a result new trends in the implementation of population education programmes are emerging" (Sharma, 1991, pp. 16-17). It is obvious from the above discussion that population education deals not only with the cognitive domain but also with the affective domain, more importantly with attitudes, appreciations and values which are not easy to assess and address. Besides these, population education content is an integral part of different subjects. This makes evaluation of population education more complicated. Further, in the absence of any reliable tool of evaluation, it would be difficult even to answer the question - whether the objectives of population education have been really achieved or not? However, since 2000 when the goals of population and development education have become integral part of the MDGs, the content and scope of population and development education have increased very widely to include everything that has any relevance to achieving the MDGs, namely: eradicating poverty and hunger; achieving universalprimary education;promotinggender equality and 21 Popuiation and empowering women; reducing child mortality rates; improving maternal health; Education: An Overview combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and developing a global partnership for development. One of the special features of population and development education as an educational endeavour is that it lays more emphasis on objectives relating to affective domain, necessitating the selection of such contents as have a potential to initiate among learners the processes of attitude transformation and value orientation towards population issues. Moreover, the content and scope of population and development education is objective-specific, clientele-specific, location-specific, and problem-specific and the related content is not automatically available. Since population and development education is population problem- centred, multidisciplinary and value-laden educational programme aimed at improving the quality of life at present and in future, its content is to be drawn from demography, population dynamics, population studies, sex education, family planning and population policies and programmes. Its content, thus, is to be judiciously derived from several academic disciplines such as demography, sociology, geography, economics, psychology, biology, ecology, population studies, medicine, etc. Nevertheless, it may be remembered that the objectives, content and scope of population education vary form target group to target group depending upon their educational level as well as national, local and individual needs and problems. Check Your Progress Notes: a) Space given below the question is for writing your answer. b) Check your answer with the one given at the end of this unit under "Answers to 'Check Your Progress' Questions". 5) Mention the goals of population education and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Explain how the goals of population education are related to the MDGs................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 22 Population Education: 1.4 DEVELOPMENT OF POPULATION Concept and Development EDUCATION: AN OVERVIEW In this section, we will present you an overview of development of population education, with an emphasis on its growth and development in India. 1.4.1 Origin and Growth of Population Education at International Level The origin of population education at international level can be traced to the first United Nations Population Conference held in 1954 in Rome (Italy) which has drawn the global attention to the problems and issues of population. Such effort began in the context of the world population touching 1,265,000,000 in 1950, which was just half of it 100 years ago (i.e. 640,000,000 in 1850). The second UNPC was held in 1965 in Belgrade (Yugoslavia). The first and second UlVPCs were organised in collaboration with the International Union on the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) and comprised of technical experts aimed at expanding scientific knowledge and understanding on population issues. The third conference held in 1974 in Bucharest (Romania) and the fourth one held in 1984 in Mexico City, were organized by the United Nations alone and comprised of government representatives. These conferences benefitted from extensive preparations, scientific symposia, regional meetings, and meetings of preparatory committees involving technical experts and focused on development of policies (http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/reader-diaries/ 20 10101111linternational- conference-population-and-development-icpd-a-historical-acco~t-and-~~e- trajectory). Since the first UN Population Conference held in 1954, the Governments, donors and the practitioner-agencies involved in promoting the scientific knowledge and understanding on population matters popularly used the term 'population education'. Beginning with 1954 UNPC every ten years such a conference has been held to discuss population problems and issues and to promote measures to address them at international level. The fifth International Conference on Populatioq and Development (ICPD) held from 5-13 September 1994 in Cairo (Egypt) had, at the end of nine days of intense debate, adopted a wide-ranging 20-year action plan that delegates and commentators hailed as opening of a "new era in population". The programme contained highly specific goals and recommendations in the mutually reinforcing areas of infant and maternal mortality, education, reproductive health and family I planning. This Programme of Action has the potential to change the world with its far wide ranging effect (http:/1 www.unfpa.org/swp/2004/english/ch1/ I index.htm). Underpinned by a commitment to human rights and gender equality, the Cairo agreement called on countries to ensure reproductive health and rights for all as a critical contribution to sustainable development and the fight against poverty, illiteracy and gender disparity, which the ICPD saw as inseparable from addressing population concerns. It is at this conference that the concepts of reproductive rights, sexual and reproductive health were officially incorporated in the programme of action to serve as a blueprint for population programmes of the United Nations and individual countries until 20 15. The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was, I thus, a milestone in the history of population and development as well as in the I history of women's rights. The Programme of Action agreed to at the ICPD P o ~ u l ~ t i o n a n d D e v e f o p ~ e ~along t with benchmarks added at the ICPD+5 review informed the eight Education: An Overview Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) derived from Millennium Summit, 2000. These mutually reinforcing development blueprints continued to guide United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) in its efforts to improve lives, support reproductive health and rights, and advance gender equality. UNFPA, governments and development partners marked the 15th anniversary of the ICPD in 2009 by taking stock of how much has been accomplished and how much more has been left to be done. A series of expert meetings and events helped to identify gaps and challenges, to consolidate lessons learned over the last 15 years, and to come up with practical recommendations for accelerating progress (http://www.unfpa.org/public/icpd) At the Millennium Summit in 2000, a framework for progress consisting of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) was derived from the Millennium Declaration adopted by the world leaders fkom 189 Member States who agreed to help the world's poorest countries significantly by the year 2015. The MDGs serve as a time-bound, achievable blueprint for reducing pwerty and improving lives agreed to by all countries and all leading development institutions. They guide and focus development priorities for governments, donors and practitioner- agencies worldwide (http://www.unfpa.org/public/icpd). In 20 10, the LTN system reviewed progress, identified gaps and explored ways to accelerate progress in a series of events leading up to the MDG 10-Year Review of all population and development related matters. One can see the close linkages between the 10-year programme of action prepared by ICPD held in Cairo in 1994 and its follow-up that informed the MDGs. Thus, 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was a milestone in the history of population and development, and accordingly the Governments, donors and the practitioner-agencies have changed nomenclature of 'population education' to 'population and development education', and its definition remained the same, but, in practice, focus has shifted to matters of interrelationship between population and development. 1.4.2 Growth and Development of Population Education in India India is the first country in the world to have a State-sponsoredpopulation policy favouring family planning to limit the size of the family. The National Family Planning Programme, initiated in 1952 during the First Five Year Plan (1951- 56), adopted a "clinical' approach to family planning and opened a number of clinics with the expectation that the people would take advantage of the facilities. Faced with inadequate response, this approach was modified thereafter. The 'community extension' and 'cafeteria' approaches were followed during the Third Five Year Plan (1961-66) with an emphasis on creation of motivation among the people to respond to the family planning message and to utilise the services offered by changing popular attitudes and values to family planning. The 'cafeteria approach' in which various alternative means of family limitation (temporary and permanent) were propagated from the middle of 1960s also did not make much headway as the official emphasis remained on terminal methods alone. Later, many legislations were brought out, including on abortion (medical termination of pregnancy) and the age of marriage. 'Incentives and disincentives' scheme was introdoced. Women's education, population education, child nutrition, etc and their integration with the family planning programme was thought of. Consequently, a comprehensiveNational Population Policy integrated Population Education: Concept and Development with the overall strategy of socio-economic development was evolved in April 1976 with a view to promoting family planning at a faster pace by involving in the programme the other development departments of the Government, both at the Centre and in the States. Also, all the organisations which commanded credibility and influenc'e with the people and were interested in the public welfare were given importance in the task of promoting family planning. Some of the important features of the National Population Policy of 1976 are (Sreedhara Swamy, 1984, pp. 154-155): i) increase in the age of marriage from 15 to 18 years for girls and from 18 to 2 1 for boys; ii) freezing of the population figures at the 1971 level until the year 2001 for the purpose of representation in the National Parliament as well as for allocation of Central assistance, devolution of taxes, etc, to the States; iii) linking of a part of Central assistance to the States for their development with their performance in family planning; iv) greater attention to girls' education; v) proper place for population education in the total system of education; vi) involvement of all ministries/departments of the government in the family planning programmes; vii) increase in monetary compensation for sterilisation; viii) institution of group awards as incentives for various organisations and bodies representing the people at local levels, including Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis; ix) intimate association of voluntary organisationsparticularly those representing women with the implementation of the programme; x) greater attention to research; and xi) greater use of motivational media, particularly in rural areas, for increasing acceptance of family planning. The Janata Government was formed at the Centre in 1977 and the revised Population Policy was announced. While the new government, in its population policy statement, stressed the importance of limiting population growth, it emphasised the voluntary nature of the family planning programme. Simultaneously, the 'family planning programmes' were redesignated as 'family welfare programmes'. In addition to the items of the 1976 policy, this policy statement advocated a greater role for maternity and child health services, an expansion of the immunisationprogramme, improvement of women's education and population education, and the involvement of voluntary, youth and women's organisations. The major feature is the 'educational and voluntary approach' to family welfare. Population education as a part of normal courses of study was stressed for youth. Special attention was given to enmurage necessary research inputs, alongside education, in the field. Thus, a rr - pronged strategy was /. evolved to attain the envisaged demographic goals an,l the family planning 25 Population andDevelo~ment (welfare) programme has been adopting increasingly effective approaches from Education: An Overview time to time, i.e. from a 'clinical' approach to a 'community extension' and 'cafeteria' approaches coupled with 'incentives and disincentives' to promote family planning. Such shift in approach is rather imminent as population and development are closely interrelated and embrace a number of complex factors. In India the concern for population planning permeates all government policies and programmes related to health, environment, energy, agriculture, food, urban and rural development, housing, etc. Success on the population front is considered crucial for securing national developmental goals (Parakh and Pandey, 1991, The National Population Policy (2000) provided a framework for the next decade in several sectors for population development, with the objective to improve the quality of life of the people, to enhance their well-being and to provide them with opportunities and choices to become productive assets in society. Its aim is to achieve a stable population by 2045 at a level consistent with the requirements of sustainable economic growth, social development and environment protection (http://www.ugc. ac.in/financialsupport/guidline -PEU.pdf). Until 1986, when the National Education Policy was announced, population education was a part of the National Population Policy. The extension orientation to the family planning programme during the Third Five Year Plan marks the starting point of'population education in the non-formal sector. Later, a number of seminars and conferences were organised by national and international organisations working in India in response to the demands of policy changes that were brought out from time to time. As a result, population education has found a place in non-formal and formal education programmes, including higher education. The family welfare program over the last five decades with holistic approach towards population control, followed by other social factors like female literacy, age at marriage, status of women, spacing of children, immunization, health care, infant mortality, etc. have made, no doubt, significant contributions in the direction, but the necessity for the intervention of educational efforts to bring appropriate social transformations so as to promote population stabilization and ensure quality of life can never be denied. The UniversitieslInstitutions can play a vital role by providing adequate knowledge and necessary awareness in relevant areas. To provide awareness, the Universities/Institutions need to mobilize the students as soon as they enter into the same (http://www.ugc.ac.in/ financialsupport/guidline-PEU.pdf). While concerted and sustained efforts have been made since 1980 to integrate elements of population education in both formal and non-formal education systems, the adoption of the "National Policy on Education 1986' has been the most significant development. The policy reflects the magnitude of the demographic situation and all the concerns related to the causes and consequences of rapid population growth. It categorically mentions that 'the growth of our population needs to be brought down significantly over the coming decades' (National Policy on Education, 1986, para 1.13). The policy document is imbued with issues related to the prevailing population situation. It is generally observed that 'the perception of population-relatedissues by an individual may vary from that desired by the community or defined by national policies. This so happens because the national policies in respect of Population Education: Concept and Development population issues are formulated according to the.needs and requirements of the well-defined national goals, whereas individuals... perceive the population phenomena in their own socio-cultural milieu shaped by the traditional norms and value-patterns. Unless a perceptible social change directed towards the - attainment of national goals takes place, there cannot be a commonality in the patterns of perception at individual, community and national levels. With a view to including such a social change, education can play a decisive role (Pandey, 1985,pp.xvii-xix). The policy encapsulates almost all critical concerns in respect of the national system of education. 'A common core' reflected in the national curricular framework includes all those issues on which rational attitude has to be developed in each individual (National Policy+onEducation, 1986, p.2, para 1.10). These issues constitute more than half of the ten 'core curricular areas' mentioned in the Programme ofAction of National Policy on Education (1986, pp. 144-145). These are: constitutional obligations, equality of sexes, protection of environment, removal of social barriers, observance of small family norm, and inculcation of scientific temper. The National Literacy Mission (1988, p. 14) document also incorporated these issues and made them an integral part of functional literacy to be imparted to illiterate adults. For the first time in the history of the nation the 'observance of small family norm' finds a place of importance as a core element in the national education policy. This value is sought to be achieved, not in isolation, but by promoting proper attitudes, particularly in women, in respect of removal of illiteracy, interrelationship among population, environment, development and quality of life, and prevalent values and beliefs. 'Recognising the holistic nature of child development', the policy accords high priority to 'Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) and suitably integrates it with the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme, wherever possible' (National Policy on Education, 1986, p.6, para 5.2). This stipulation has a direct bearing on the demographic goal of bringing down'the death rate in general and infant mortality rate in particular. Towards this end is the policy commitment that 'education will be used as an agent of basic change in the status of women' (Ibid, p.6, para 4.2) on which greatly depends the hope of restricting the fertility rate. The policy has itself recognised that 'the largest single factor that could help achieve this (limiting population growth) is the spread of literacy and education among women' (Ibid, pp.2-3, paral. 1). It states that 'the whole nation must pledge itself to the eradication of illiteracy, particularly in the 15-35age-group' (Ibid, p.9, para 4.12). The policy document simultaneously assures that 'the new thrust in elementary education will emphasise universal enrolment and universal retention of children up to 14 years of age...' (Ibid, p. 11, para 5.5). It is abundantly evident from the exposition in the preceding pages that the National Policy on Education 1986 is imbued with the demographic concerns of the nation and committed to reorient the education system so that it can help in the attainment of demographic goals. Even while making stipulations regarding the future perspectives, it states that 'the main task is to strengthen the base of the pyramid, which come close to a billion people at the turn of the century. Equally, it is important to ensure that those at the top of the pyramid are among the best in the world' (Ibid, p.29, para 12.2). Never before has the education policy lent such unequivocal support to the national population policy. Untilthe PopulationandDevelopment national population policy; but since then it has become a truly educational Education: An Overview programme drawing support from the education policy itself: All the above provisions provided credibility and strength to education activities being conducted with a view to institutionalising population education in the education system. As a part of institutionalising population education, various kinds of educational activities are conducted to make it an integral part of the entire education system. "A broad strategy of integration has been adopted for development of different types of materials, incorporation of population education contents into existing syllabi and textbooks, making it a part of the on-going examination system, training of teachers and other functionaries, organising cumcular and co-curricular activities and evaluation of various activities" (Parakh and Pandey, 1991, p.35) in school education by National Council of Educational Research and Training. But, population education is not treated as a separate subject or a separate educational activity. Similar efforts were also made in the field of non-formal education. Thus, all possible attempts have been made at various levels to integrate th'e elements of population education in almost all aspects of school education. In addition, efforts at institutionalisation of population education in the Adult Education sector were made by the Directorate of Adult Education, Government of India while such efforts in the University Education sector were undertaken by the University Grants Commission. All this has been designed to institutionalise population education in the entire education system of the country and to promote functional coordination among all the sectors of education through effective institutional arrangement. The efforts of institutionalisation of population education in all the above three sectors - school and non-formal, adult education, and university education or higher education - are dealt with in detail below. 1.4.2.1 Population Education in School Education Sector Population education programmes in the country owe their origin to the National Seminar on Population Education held at Bombay on August 2-3, 1969 under the joint auspices of the Union Ministries of Education and Youth Services and of Health and Family Planning. The seminar recommended that population B education be introduced in the curriculum of schools and colleges. It further 8 recommended that a separate Population Education Cell be established in the t NCERT in order to develop suitable curricula on population education. $ During the decade 1970-80, efforts were initiated to develop curricula, teaching units and to revise teacher education programme in the country. As mentioned earlier, National Population Policies announced in 1976 and 1977 stressed the need to introduce population education in schools. The joint meeting of all the Boards of Secondary Education in the country held in New Delhi in September 1978 unanimously decided to introduce population education in schools and teacher training institutions. Sri Venkateswara University, Titupati set up a Population Studies Centre in April 1973. The Centre, the first of its kind in the country, has been organising teaching, training, extension and research activities. Population education has been included in the curriculum of teacher training institutes and in BEd programmes of many Universities. NCERT conducted a base-line status survey in 1979-80 and organised four regional seminar-cum-workshops before embarking upon a challenging and 28 prestigious National Population Education Project (NPEP). A number of Population Education: Concept and Development curricular, textual, instructional and source materials were developed as a preparation for launching the Project in schools and other educational institutions in the States and Union Territories. The Government of India entered into an agreement with the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA). The National Population Education Project was launched aiming at the institutionalisation of population education in the existing education system. Since then the project has run through three cycles, each of five years duration. In the first cycle the emphasis was on expansion of project activities. During the first stage, project activities were started in the States of Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, and in the Union Territory of Chandigarh in 1980. In 1981 the activities were extended to the States of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jarnrnu and Kashrnir, Kerala, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and the Union Territory of Delhi. Later they were extended further to bring into the fold 28 States and the Union Territories where activities were conducted for students and teachers of primayy, upper primary and secondary stages, and for student-teachers of elementary and secondary teacher education. Consolidationof multi-dimensional project activities and further expansion to cover senior secondary stage and the non-formal education sector have been the foci during the secbnd (1986-90) and third (1990-95) cycles. Reaching adolescents in educational insti~utions:The first version of this partnership was initiated in 1980 in the form of the National Population Education Project (NPEP) that was implemented in all the states of the country with a focus on family life education. Due to ongoing efforts under the program, the National Policy on Education (adopted in 1986) identified NPEP as a thrust area in school education. In the 1990s, when the focus moved towards achieving the goals set in 1994 in the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), Adolescent, Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH) was identified as an important focus-area under the NPEP. India Country Office of UNFPA has a long-standing history of working with young people through direct engagement with the Department of Education (Ministry of Human Resource Development) at the national level (1ndia.unfpa.org.doc - UNFPA India). UNFPA recognizes that young people's concerns extend beyond the issues of reproductive health and include issues related to their education, livelihood and citizenship. Hence, the Fund has positioned its adolescent reproductive and sexual health niche within the broader framework of the holistic development of young people. Broad strategies include supportive policy making, provision of gender- sensitive, life skills-focused education linked with youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services driven by young people's leadership and participation. Empowerment of adolescents (both in and out of schools) and youth with the knowledge and life skills necessary for maintaining better reproductive and sexual health is one of the outputs of India's country program. At the national level, UNFPA reaches adolescents through a range of interventions and partners, like the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MOYAS), Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and other UN agencies. Several initiatives for young people are also implemented through our state offices. Overall, UNFPAprovides technical support to advocacy efforts that further youth interests and contribute towards youth-friendly policies. In Population and Development towards improving quality of adolescent outreach programs in school and out- Education: An Overview of-school settings through a standardized curricula, prototype materials and monitoring mechanisms (Ibid). Post 2005, in thc wake of the controversy around sex education; the program was restructured as the Adolescence Education Program (AEP) that focused on enhancing life skills among adolescents to enable them to respond to real life situations effectively. Positioning AEP in the wider context of an educational approach to develop life skills to empower young people proved to be a useful strategy with a clear focus on ageiexperience-appropriateand culrurally-sensitive information. Furthermore, National Curriculum Framework (2005) that guides the school curriculum across the country recognized Adolescence Education as an important area in school education (Ibid). With National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) as the co-ordinating agency the program works through both co-curricular and curricular formats. The co-curricular approach works through the three national school systems - Central Board of Secondary Education (GBSE), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan ( W S ). The program works on a cascade training approach that has created a pool of master trainers who orient nodal teachers who are entrusted with the responsibility of transacting life-skills-based education (16 hours module) to secondary school students through interactive methodologies. Nodal teachers are provided guidelines and materials to facilitate the transaction process. Advocacy sessions are organized with principals of participating schools and sensitization sessions are held with parents. By 2010 end, at least two nodal teachersfrom 3500 CBSE schools, all the 919 KVschools, and all the 583 NVS schools have received orientation on adolescence education issues (Ibid). Curricular Approach: The NCF 2005 clearly outlines that rather than a stand- alone program the AEP should become an integral part of school education. It is noteworthy that although UNFPA k current work at the national level with the MHRD has a large co-curricular component, our larger goal is to mainstream the components of adolescence education in the larger context of education and curricular formats. In this regard, the content analysis exercise undertaken by NCERT shows that textbooks in different parts of the country have integrated adolescent education issues in various scholastic subjects. Efforts are underway for more comprehensive inclusion of adolescent concerns in the curriculum. The Council of Boards for School Education (COBSE) is involved in advocacy efforts for curricular integration of life skills in selected state education boards ' in India with relevant stakeholders. Curricular interventions also include W F P Ak ongoing support for integration of life skills in the secondary curriculum of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) that enrols approximately 400,000 learners each year. In order to maximize the reach of the integrated lessons, the most popular subjects of Home Science, Social Science, Science and Languages (Hindi and English) were identified for integration (Ibid). In 2005, life-skills-focused adolescence education was introduced as a separate subject in the senior secondary curriculum across approximately 4500 government schools in the state of Rajasthan and the subject is now institutionalized within the government schools. Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in the state of Orissa reaches out to 12,000tribal girls and boys at different stages of schooling. 30 Population Education: Since 2009, UNFPA's Orissa office is partnering with KISS to provide the Concept and Development adolescents with accurate age-appropriate and culturally-relevant education and build skills on issues related to their health. Relevant resource materials have been developed and the program is working on e;lhancing capacities of teachers to transact the curriculum in classroom-settings. The institute has introduced life-skills-focused adolescence education in its secondary classes and is also working towards building a strong research-base on issues related to adolescent health and well-being (Ibid). In the state of Bihar, UNFPA has entered a partnership with the Department of Human Resources Development, Government of Bihar to reach out to young people in approximately 1000 secondary schools (across 9 districts) in Bihar with information and skills for improved health and well-being. Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) is the lead technical agency responsible for providing technical assistance and ensuring that adolescent - conc

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