The Pacific Region.

Abstract

Population education in the Pacific region is summarized in terms of awareness and commitment curriculum and instructional materials development integration into the school curricula training programs and evaluation research. Several population education issues of current concern relate to the increase in chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension that are associated with life styles and diet and the rising incidence of AIDS and teenage pregnancy. In the Pacific region many countries have advanced population programs and policies while some still do not even have a population policy. The issue of balancing population and resources is a topic that has not been sufficiently addressed in resource-poor countries. There is wide variance in awareness and commitment to population education in the Pacific region. Commitment and continuous support are crucial to population education projects. Lack of support is sometimes due to changing government personnel and lack of awareness of policy makers. Population education is not the same as family planning or sex education and traditionally is spread through seminars and workshops by part time project personnel unconnected to the entire educational apparatus. Presently only 8 population projects are functioning in the region with 2-3 in the planning stages. Materials development in the Pacific region has been devoted to the secondary school level yet awareness is increasing that sexuality family health and the environment should be introduced at the primary level. A popular strategy is to integrate population issues into the existing curriculum such as in Fiji the Marshall Islands and Kiribati which also have teacher training curriculum. In most countries sex education is still a controversial topic and materials are developed by teacher committees working after school rather in a curriculum development unit. AIDS has pushed this topic into the public sector. A chart is provided for each country and curriculum with population education and the level of schooling for formal and informal education. Training programs tend to be orientation workshops materials development workshops or teacher training workshops. Evaluation research in population education has been weak due to an emphasis on program implementation curriculum development and limited resources and expertise.