Page 202 - Social Studies 7

The population education is the study of human population in relation to the
environment with a view of improving the quality of life without adversely
affecting the environment. “
Hence, population education is an exploration of knowledge and attitudes about
population, family, living style, reproduction, education and basic values.

Objectives of Population Education

The objectives of population education are given below:

1. To provide knowledge and understanding of the privilege situation
2. To create awareness among the students about population matters
3. To provide necessary skill to evaluate the impact and consequences of
population growth on society
4. To develop awareness on the population day
5. To give the knowledge about the causes of urbanization and its related
problems.
6. To give the knowledge of population policy and population measures.
7. To provide the knowledge of manpower management and resource
development.

Importance of Population Education

Population education was coined by professor S. R. WayLand of Columbia
University, the USA in 1935. So he is known as the 'Father of Population
Education'. The population program was initiated in BS 2037 in Nepal. Educating
students on population dynamics was introduced in many Asian countries during
the 1970s. The population education was included in school and university
curriculum in Nepal. Likewise, the Ministry of Population and Environment was
established in Nepal in BS 2052. Thus, population education is needed to control
the population growth and to improve the quality of life. In Nepalese context,
people give birth to their children until they get a son. This leads to population
growth. Early marriage is still practised in rural societies which is one of the
reasons for population growth. So population education is necessary in Nepal.
Hence it is kept as a course of study in schools as well as colleges. Population
education teaches people about the importance and values of a small family to
make a family life healthy, happy, peaceful and prosperous. It teaches ways of
better and happy life by providing all the facilities. It also makes people aware
of the fact that the consequence will be not only to the family member but also to
society, country and even to the world.

Dynamic Social Studies and Population Education - Book VII 202