Aspects of health education: a neglected area

Much of human suffering is attributable to preventable causes. The area of family health is particularly important in this respect. Ignorance of simple facts relating to one's structure and development, unquestioning acceptance of tradition, belief in misconcepts, and indiscreet yielding to peer and social pressures are often causative of such suffering, particularly among young people. At present, the situation does not appear to be remedied by the influence of school teachers; and, even less by parents. This is the case for a sound programme of Family Life Education (FLE) in schools, for the implementation of which 'gatekeeper' co-operation, curriculum development and teacher training are paramount. A school's FLE programme by itself will not respond to the needs of all young people; for, in the developing world in particular, the rate of drop-out from the formal school education stream is high. These drop-outs cannot often be reached through the usual employment channels. It is therefore necessary to identify means of reaching them in an effective manner. Mass media and traditional educational material are unlikely to fulfill this need. Therefore, special print material has to be developed. For this purpose, well-focussed objectives have to be drawn up, and instructional content has to be compiled. Presentation methodologies have to be evolved in an innovative manner. These need necessarily be locality-specific, based on the findings of behavioural and sociological studies conducted on and around specific target populations.