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Effective implementation of Population Education | How to successfully institutionalize Population Education | Action framework for operational population education in the 21st Century

Demands of 21st Century Education

There is a lot of demands from our 21st century education system not just to produce learners of different categories but to provide information to deliver decision-making skills in population-related issues needed to survive in the world of today.

Effective implementation of 21st century population education as a branch in the field of education would help achieve better quality of life and sustainable change for present and future generations.

Reconceptualization of Population Education

In view of the emerging social problems such as AIDS, drug abuse, ageing, adolescent fertility, environmental deterioration and inequitable development as well as the new insights and evidence from scientific and social research, there is a constant need to update and renew the population education programmes. Therefore it is evident that population education must be revised to respond to present and future needs of the countries.

There are new challenges to the development of population education to be met in terms of its conceptualization, consolidation, institutionalization and its expansion to encompass all levels of formal and non-formal education in all both developed and developing countries of the world.

How to successfully institutionalize Population Education

This is about the action framework for operational population education in our 21st-century education system

Strong government and political support and commitment to Population Education

The level of government support and commitment as well as the political drive towards population education at the national level will determine how successful its programme will be formulated and implemented at both the institutional and instructional levels. Formulation and implementation of population education will be successful if the support and commitment is strong and enhancing.

Strong support from the government and political circus would facilitate timely release of funds to the population education project in educational institutions by the government and donor agencies.

Collaborative development of Population Education

Population education programmes and activities can be effectively planned and developed when the government of the country consult and collaborate with the all stakeholders in education field – teachers, community leaders, parents, students and concerned agencies and field experts.

Making Population Education a national education policy

Population education should be an integral part of a nation’s educational plan and budget of the Department /Ministry of Education.

Population education should a part of the educational policy of the country in the area of curriculum development by the Education Ministry of the country. The Ministry or Department of Education as the case may be should through the steering and advisory committee of its agencies, closely coordinate population education in educational institutions at national, regional and local levels of governance.

Integration into pre-service training of teachers and examination system

Population education should be integrated into the pre-service training of teachers and both private and public examination system in order to promote research and widen study scope of the subject.

Effective monitoring and evaluation of population education

There should be an in-built monitoring and evaluation mechanism in the education system for assessing the progress and effectiveness of the programme so as to ensure that planned and actual result are achieved.

Role of Governments and International Communities of Organization

National governments and agencies of international organizations like UNESCO, UNFPA (agencies of UN) are saddled with the responsibility of proving opportunities to contribute to the promotion of sustainable development by comparing experiences in the field of population education and by identifying priorities, strategies and actions that will develop, strengthen and institutionalize population education in individual countries.