Nepal [Population education in countries of the region]

Bull Unesco Reg Off Educ Asia Pac. 1982 Jun:(23):104-10.

Abstract

PIP: In 1979 the Ministry of Education and Culture in Nepal, in collaboration with Unesco and the UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), organized a National Planning and Development Meeting in Population Education. The objectives were to understand the concept and nature of population education and population education programs in Asia, to review the existing programs of population education initiated by various agencies in Nepal, and to develop guidelines for the formulation of a national population education program, both in school and out of school. All of these objectives were realized. Subsequently, a population education project was formulated for UNFPA funding, with the help of the Unesco Regional Team on Population Education. The primary goal of the project is to gear the entire system--formal and nonformal--to the realization of the potential role of education in the development efforts of the country and the interrelationships between the population situation and different aspects of quality of life at the micro and macro levels. The long range objectives of the program are as follows: develop in the target audience an insight into the interrelationships between population growth and the process of social and economic development at the individual, family, society, national, and international levels; develop desirable attitudes and behavior in the teachers, students, and the community at large towards population issues so that they may make rational decisions about their family size and the quality of life that they would like to have; and institutionalize population education in the formal education system, including university, and the nonformal education program of the Ministry of Education. In a 1981 population education curriculum development workshop, 2 further objectives were added: develop in learners a knowledge and understanding of basic concepts, processes, and measures; and develop among learners an awareness of the attitudes, beliefs, and values affecting decision making on population issues and problems. The key personnel identified to staff the different units implementing population education had no prior training and experience in population education. 3 modalities of training were deemed necessary: an intensive training program for the project staff; orientation for key administrators; and an intercountry study visit. Population education is beginning to take root in the formal and nonformal education system and is regarded as a crucial complementary program to family planning and other population programs in Nepal.

MeSH terms

  • Asia
  • Curriculum*
  • Developing Countries
  • Education*
  • Health Planning
  • Information Services*
  • Nepal
  • Organization and Administration*
  • Sex Education*
  • Teaching*