Population Education in India
One of the formidable problems which stare us in the faces, is our rapid increasing population, which offsets every endeavour for development. A need is being felt for imparting factual knowledge about population dynamic, so that the younger generation may understand the nature and magnitude of the burden imposed by rapid population growth.
Our population is increasing annually at a rapid rate of 2.5 percent India is next to China, has little less then three times the population of U.S.A., twenty-one times the population of Canada and more than six times the population of Japan. With the present growth rate the country’s population may reach the incredible figure of one-billion before the end of this century.
Meaning:
According to UNESCO, “Population Education is an educational programme which provides for a study of population situation of the family, the community, nation and world, with the purpose of developing in the students rational and responsible attitudes and behaviour towards that situation.”
Objectives:
The objectives of Population Education are:
1. To enable the students to understand that family size is controlled.
2. That population limitation can facilitate the development of a higher quality of life in the nation.
3. That a small family size can contribute materially to the quality of living for the individual family.
4. To enable the students to appreciate the fact that for preserving the health and welfare of the members of the family and to ensure good prospects for the younger generation, the Indian families of today and tomorrow should be small and compact.
5. To give accurate information to the students about the effect of changes in family size and in national population on the individual