India. Content analysis reveals extensive coverage of population contents in textbooks

A content analysis undertaken on textbooks for classes I-X of Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh revealed that population-related messages are being conveyed through as many as 107 lessons in Bihar, 158 lessons in Rajasthan and 99 in Uttar Pradesh through their textbooks on languages, social sciences and science. The study further revealed that the number of lessons carrying population education contents were more in the primary level than in other school levels. This trend was the same in all the three states included in the study. The report pointed out the advantage of this finding in terms of the high drop-out rates of children at the primary stage. The study also found out that messages pertaining to population change and resource development have been conveyed through more entry points as compared to the messages on adolescence education, which found only scanty places in the textbooks. Nevertheless, the study pointed out that population-related messages on the different themes are being conveyed in all subject areas and to the students of all the three stages of school education. These themes included family size and family welfare, proper age at marriage, responsible parenthood, population change and resource development, population-related values and beliefs, status of women, and adolescence education. The study was conducted by the Population Education Unit of NCERT to find out the extent of coverage of and gaps in population-related themes being conveyed to students through the textbooks in the three states which are demographically backward.