Introduction

Population Education in lay man's language is the education

about population matters i.e. fertility, mortality, migration, etc.
But population education is an educational process. It is a desired
to help people to understand the nature, the causes and
consequences of population growth.
The population forces (fertility, mortality, migration) are
shaped by the population related policies. These factors operate
within the society and affect social, political and economic
standards also. In other ways the political, social and economic
decisions made by the people of a society of Nation influence the
behaviour of the individual in relation to population growth.

Definitions:
According

to

Gopal

Rao,

Population

education

an

educational programme which provides for a study of the

population phenomenon so as to enable the students to make
rational decisions towards problems arising of rapid population
growth". To tell in simple words population education means
educating the students about a large population or ever
increasing
creates".

population

and

problems

"which

the

population

According to Sharma, "Population education is the study of

human population in relation to his environment with a view to
improving his quality of life without adversely affecting the
environment."
In view of Burbson "Population education is an exploration of
knowledge and attitude about population, the family and sex. It
includes

population

awareness,

family

living,

reproduction

education and basic values".

Population education should not be misunderstood as sex
education, family planning, family welfare project, family life
education. But population education is an educational programme
which studies the population situation in the family, in the
community, in the nation and in the world. It is a relationship
between population change and quality of life at the micro and
macro-level.
Population education enables those students to be aware of
the process and consequences of the population growth on the
quality of our lives and the environment. The child gets an
opportunity to investigate and explore the interaction between
populations and their environments. Population characteristics,
the meaning and nature of the process. The child also knows the
causes and consequences of population increase at local, national
and global level.

Population education is a recent innovation and, as such, is

subject to various misinterpretations and misunderstandings. To
many people, population education is family planning; to others, it
is another name for sex education; still to many others, including
teachers, it is synonymous with the teaching of demography
and/or population studies.
In Nigeria, the Education Research and Development Council
views population education as
An educational process which provides for an articulated
and practical study of the population situation in the family, the
community, the nation, and the word, with the aim of developing
in the individuals a more rational attitude and responsible
behaviour towards improving the quality of their life now and in
the future.
Objectives of Population Education
The goals of population education for Nigeria can be categorized
into four groups of objectives:
1. Long Term Objectives:
To

assist

the

implementation

government
of

measures

in
to

the

formulation

ensure

the

and

effective

mobilization of our human and material resources for

development and better quality of life.

 To assist the Federal Ministry of Education in making general

education more responsive to the socio-economic needs of
the individual and the country as stated in the National
Policy on Education (1981) and within the context of the new
6-3-3-4 educational system.
2. Immediate Objectives:
To

identify

needs,

problems,

and

gaps

in

population

education for both the in-school and out-of-school sectors.

To analyze existing curriculum materials, syllabi, teaching,
and learning materials at all levels of education and suggest
suitable guidelines for determining appropriate content and
modes of introducing population education concepts into the
curricula.
To create a favourable climate of awareness and knowledge
on population education among all sectors of the Nigerian
population through a public awareness campaign.
To develop desirable attitudes and behaviours in the
teachers and students as well as the community at large
towards population issues
To develop appropriate curriculum materials for use in the
population education programme.
To incorporate population education into all teacher-training
programmes.
To develop relevant materials, newsletters, sourcebooks and
other

audio-visual

aids

for

teaching/learning in schools.

public

enlightenment

and

3. Secondary-School-Level Objectives:
The third group of objectives is specifically targeted toward the
secondary

school

level.

The

National

Population

Education

curriculum for Nigerian secondary schools is meant to help the

students to:
Recognize how the increasing gap between birth and death
rates will impact services such as schools, health, water and
housing.
Relate growth and size of family to demand for available
food and other facilities, health and productivity of members
of the family.
Explain how population patterns at the household and
national levels affect the demand for and consumption of
goods and services.
Recognize
resources

how

population

development,

growth,

and

the

constraints

consumption

rates

on

have

contributed to the present state of the economy.

Compare and contrast the population/resources situation in
Nigeria with that of other countries so as to have an insight
into the international dimensions of population and family
life problems.
Highlight

the

importance

of

self-sufficiency

in

food

production and the dangers of dependence on food imports

and food aid, and
Identify the various uses to which population data are put
and, therefore, develop an understanding of the importance

of and a sense of responsibility towards population census

enumeration and the registration of vital statistics.
4. Programme Implementation Objectives:
The fourth group of objectives focuses on the implementation and
role of the population education programme. The ultimate
objectives are:
To institutionalize population education at all levels and
sectors of our educational system.
To assist individual citizens in defining their population
problems,

in

understanding

the

determinants

and

consequences of population processes and changes, and in

evaluating

possible

actions

which

they

and

their

communities can take to improve their quality of life.

To complement other population programmes aimed at
improving the quality of life of the individual, the family and
the nation.
Factors influencing Population Growth
The rate at which population increases is called the
population growth rate. This growth rate differs from country to
country and from one economy to another. Besides immigration,
population growth in any country happens as a result of natural
changes in the birth and mortality rates.
A. Birth Rate:

A number of factors may influence the differences in level of

fertility among various groups:
1. Occupation: people with prestigious occupations have
fewer children than those with less prestigious occupations.
2. Income: the higher the level of income, the lower the
fertility level and, conversely, the lower the level of income
the higher the fertility level.
3. Education: the higher the education rises, the lower the
fertility rate goes. Studies have shown that in traditional
societies, where fertility is higher, education also influences
the age of marriage, the use of contraceptive methods, and
attitudes toward the cost of raising children.
4. Religion: generally, believers of certain religions frequently
have higher fertility than Jews or Protestants. Studies have
shown that Muslims often have higher fertility rates than
non-Muslims. Some religious group can even specify the
family size or the number of wives that are allowed.
5. Urbanization: fertility rates in rural areas tend to be higher
than those in urban areas. Factors affecting lower urban
fertility rates include the high costs of living, social mobility,
social income, social classes, occupation status, female
employment, education, etc.
6. Sex Preference: the status of women has improved
considerably and, as a result, less emphasis is placed on sex
when raising children.
B. Mortality (Death) Rate:

In simple terms, mortality is the occurrence of death. We

measure the mortality rate by determining the ratio of the
number of deaths per year to the total population of an area,
which is expressed as X number of people per thousand.
The mortality rate is correlated with the level of socio-economic
development. Death rates are lowest in advanced countries and
highest in developing countries. The common factors influencing
the mortality rate includes:
1. Social class: as the prestige level of a given groups
occupation goes up, its death rate goes down
2. Race and ethnicity: when a particular racial or ethnic
group predominates over the other, the lesser group tends to
suffer more and may have a lower life expectancy because
of limited opportunities.
3. Sex Difference: in many societies, male mortality is higher
than that of females at almost every age.
4. Marital status: married people tend to live longer than
unmarried ones.
5. Age: generally, mortality rates are highest among infants of
less than one year and decline gradually until the age of 18
when the level is lowest. After 60, the mortality rate rises
again.
6. Rural-urban

differences: mortality levels are usually

higher in urban areas than in rural areas. However, scientific

and

technological

development

have

improved

urban

mortality rates with innovations such as sanitation, the

establishment of adequate medical facilities, public health

campaign, and public or free medical clinics.
C. Advantages of a Large Population
1. Larger working population: A larger population means
more workers, which, if coupled with other necessary factors,
will increase economic output.
2. Expansion of domestic markets: a large population will
expand the domestic market for goods and services of the
nations population.
3. Diversity of skills: a large population is likely to be
accompanied by diversity of skills and talents. Various skills
possessed by the different sections and groups can be
harnessed for increased and improved production.
4. Strategic and psychological satisfaction: more people
will be available to defend a country with a large population.
5. International prestige and respect: a large population
gives a country a feeling of importance and security. This is
because a country with large population gains greater
respect than countries with smaller population.
D. Disadvantages of a Large Population
Once the size of the population in a country passes above the
optimum or level, various disadvantages will begin to set in
unless this large population is complemented by other factors. An
overly-large population therefore leads to the following:

1. Overpopulation:

large

population

may

lead

to

overcrowding, which can strain social services such as

hospitals, water, electricity, etc.
2. Food

shortages:

large

population

that's

not

self-

supporting must import food from other countries, resulting

in a trade imbalance that harms the importing nation.
3. Political

stability:

rapid

and

uncontrolled

population

growth leads to political instability because the government

will not be able to meet the social and economic demands of
such a rapidly changing populace.
4. Unemployment: large-scale unemployment of qualified and
less-qualified workers will set in. A large pool of chronically
unemployed workers gives rise to social problems like
prostitution, armed robbery and terrorism etc
5. Heavy dependency ratio: overpopulation leads to a heavy
dependence ratio. The proportion of dependent people to
those engaged in active and effective production will be high
and this will in turn increase the number of dependent
population.
Conclusion
Population education cannot be introduced into the schools
as a new and separate subject because the schools' timetable is
already over-crowded, This is the reason why a proposal has been
made in this paper to logically and cumulatively introduces
population education elements into the secondary school Social

Studies curriculum. The population education component of Social

Studies implies a commitment to produce people with sharpened
population education perspective. To make the proposal work,
existing social studies teachers have to be retrained through
Seminars and Workshops. In addition the pre-service education of
prospective Social Studies teachers must be modified to reflect
population education adequately.
How to Improve the life in Nigeria
Better

Quality

of

Life:

Improvements

in

education,

healthcare, agriculture and housing sectors will bring about an

improvement in the quality of life of Nigerians. Also taking
active measures to protect the environment, not only improves
the quality of living in the country, it also prevents huge
avoidable costs in cleaning the environment later in the future.
Lastly improvements in security will make the people feel safe.
Fight Poverty: Promoting and supporting enterprise, along
with improvements in the financial sector and legal framework
will foster the growth of micro, small and medium sized
enterprises (MSMEs) which have been show to fight poverty,
increase wealth creation and reduce unemployment.
Increased Investments: Improvements in the infrastructure,
along with those in finance, security, enforcement of laws and
education should bring about an increase in both local and
foreign investments. The presence of the right infrastructure
makes

it

cheaper

to

produce

goods

and

services,

the

enforcement of laws makes it easier to conduct business, and

an improved educational system produces quality candidates

from which companies can select their staff from.
Increased Foreign Earnings: Improved trade and tourism
will bring about an increase in much needed foreign earnings.
Diversification: Opening up other sectors of the economy
brings out diversification, making the country less reliant on a
traditional base e.g. agriculture and oil. This is particularly
significant for rural communities.
Conclusion
Population Education is multi-disciplinary in nature and
structure. It draws its contents from major fields of study such as
Demography, Natural and Applied Sciences, Social Sciences, and
so on. It is therefore an embodiment of various concepts and
messages. The above definitions show that population education
involves so many activities that a single definition cannot
meaningfully cover all of them. Basically, population education is
designed to improve and increase peoples knowledge and
awareness of the cause and consequence of population growth at
the family, community, national and international levels. It aims
to provide a better understanding of the relationship between
population processes and dynamics on the one hand and social,
cultural, and environmental conditions on the other, and to
illuminate the effect of that relationship on quality of life at both
the micro and macro levels.

References
Ade, O. (1987) Integrated Social Studies. Ado Ekiti: United Star
Printers and Co. Ltd.
Adedigba, T. A. (2002) Relative effects of Two Collaborative Group
Strategies on the lecturing of some aspects of Population
Education by NCE students. Unpublished Ph. D Thesis, UI,
Ibadan
Andrew, G. O. (1985) An Outline of Human Geography. Benin-City:
Equaveon Printers
Barnabas, Y. (1988) Introduction to Population Education. Lagos:
NERDC
Olaogun, Layi (2000) "Population Education Studies." Unpublished
Lecture Notes. St. Andrews College of Education, Oyo.