Population education: a life experience course for the young

The Philippines is the 1st country to adopt an extensive population education program at an early stage of its national population program. Population education is a "life experience" course with the following 5 areas of study: 1) demography, 2) determinants of population growth, 3) consequences of population growth, 4) human sexuality and reproduction, and 5) planning for the future. Many institutions in the Philippines are teaching the course materials and training teachers for the course. Difficulties encountered in initiating the course are: 1) lack of administrative support, 2) lack of cooperation from conservative parents, and 3) an overcrowded curriculum. It has been decided to integrate the aspects of this course into existing areas of the curriculum. Topics for future research in population are outlined. Use of the research was also covered.     

Values: their place in population education

In an attempt to resolve the crucial issues relating to dealing with the value dilemmas of students, population educators in the Philippines convened a series of conferences. The Philippine population education teachers, trainers, and administrators participating in the conferences agreed that a fusion of the affective and cognitive processes was necessary and that there should be more student involvement and self-made decisions on the part of students. An issue still unresolved is whether schools should inculcate values in the students or let them resolve or discover values by themselves; the strategies suggested range from open-ended or value processing to close-ended value teaching. Teachers and supervisors stressed that all strategies should be undertaken since they complement each other, but the choice and availability of materials to support and reinforce the strategy continues to be a problem for many participants. Preliminary studies conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a value clarification strategy support the contention that value clarification processes do make a difference in certain patterns of student behavior, attitudes, and knowledge. Research also shows that the value clarification strategy is ineffective with teachers who are highly authoritarian, closed-minded, and dogmatic. The Population Education Program has responded to recommendations of the conference participants and taken some definite action, such as the implementation of value clarification strategies as part of the teacher training program and development of a list of Filipino values to serve as guides in teaching value-laden population issues.     

The participation of non-governmental organizations in the Philippine population program

In 1957 the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) established the Family Welfare Center, offering an educational program in family planning; it was subsequently expanded and reorganized into the Planned Parenthood Movement of the Philippines. Since its creation in 1970 the Philippine Population Program has brought together government, private, and religious activities. Under the 1987-92 development plan nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) will be taking a more active role in the implementation of the population program by contributing to the maternal and child health/family planning and the information, education, and communication (IEC) components. There are more than 50 private organizations engaged in such population activities. These include national women's organizations and development NGOs with a mass base. The Family Planning Organization of the Philippines is carrying out a 3-year comparative study of the effectiveness of community volunteers in the acceptance of natural family planning. The Reproductive Health Philippines has completed a follow-up of Depo Provera defaulters in a previous clinical study of Depo Provera acceptors conducted in 1985-87. IEC support from various medical and social organizations also helped advance family planning and population awareness of the program. The Mary Johnston Hospital and Iglesia ni Kristo have been front-runners in sterilization through their mobile teams and regular clinics. On the negative side, funding constraints are threatening the very existence of some NGOs. Even those that do not face such constraints face problems related to cost effectiveness, priority setting, capability building, and staff development. A survey of the Population Center Foundation identified some urgent concerns: sharing experience in self-reliance, enhancement of the managerial skills of staff, and funding problems. NGOs complement the family planning services of the government as well as focus on the smooth flow of IEC activities.     

Adolescent sexuality in Asia: new focus for population policy

As the age at marriage continues to rise in East and Southeast Asia, the fertility behavior of unmarried teenagers is receiving more attention from population policymakers. In addition to fertility reduction through family planning, Asian societies today consider population planning strategies in relation to national needs and social goals, including such matters as the population's growth rate, age structure, educational quality and skills. The number of single youth in Asia is growing much more rapidly than the total youth population. By the year 2010, for example, India is projected to have nearly 70 million single teenagers, aged 15-19, 188% more than in 1980. In many developing countries today, such as the Philippines and Korea, the rising age at marriage has combined with rapid urbanization, improved status for women, and more educational opportunity to alter both the behavioral norms of young people and the traditional means of social control over youth. Studies of contemporary adolescent sexuality have been conducted in 4 Asian countries. In the Philippines an overt independent youth homosexual culture was found to exist in urban and to some extent rural areas. In Thailand research revealed little conservative resistance to family planning or to contraceptives for young unmarried people. Surveys in Taiwan indicate that behavior related to dating and choice of spouse has become more liberal, and a survey in Hong Kong revealed a higher level of premarital sex and use of prostitutes among Chinese men than expected. Population policy perspectives that need to be considered in these changing times include: 1) issues of access to family planning services by unmarried people below the legal age of maturity; 2) the development of social institutions, such as exist in Thailand and the Philippines, to guide adolescents' behavior; 3) more extensive study of adolescent sexuality; 4) establishment of the scope of family policy.     

Traditional health workers finally earn recognition

In the Philippines the growing need for medical manpower and services can no longer ignore the traditional birth attendant, the hilot, who always played a big role in obstetrical practices, particularly in areas where paramedical workers are not available. In 1974 a survey identified more than 31,000 hilots, who assisted about 40% of all births in the islands. It must be remembered that in the Philippines 70% of the population lives in rural areas, that 65% of physicians live in urban areas, and that almost all hospitals are in metropolitan Manila. Until the early 50s the government's attitude was to discourage hilot practices, but limited resources and the small magnitude of existing health programs prompted the government to grant hilots official permission to continue their work. In 1955 the Philippines Dep. of Health and the WHO initiated a training program for 9000 selected hilots, to enable them to handle maternal and health situations in rural areas in the absence of physicians or nurses. From 1955 to 1972 only about 9200 hilots attended training programs, but from 1975 to 1977 about 10,500 hilots were trained to respond to local community health demands. Maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality has sharply decreased from 1954 to 1972; with nearly half of the births attended by hilots it is valid to assume that the program of teaching and supervising them has contributed to such a decline.     

Coping with adolescent fertility

In the Philippines, despite the conservative values of the population, factors brought about by increasing modernization encurage the youth to practice sex, although actual sexual behavior lags behinds attitudes. This is particlarly the case in Metropolitan Manila, the country's most urbanized region. In 1982, 4 of 10 live births were to women aged 15-24. There also are reports that births out of wedlock have increased in the past few years, with the biggest number of such births registered by women in the younger age groups. The magnitude of the problem causes concern among the policymakers, throughout the world, the Philippines included. The government and the private sector in the philippines have started to recognize the need to protect adolescents, particularly girls, from unplanned parenthood. Adolescent fertility programs in the Philippines and neighboring countries are relatively new and policymakers are working to strengthen them. Recently, the Commission on population (Popcom) organized the Youth and Premarriage Task Forces to address the specific needs and concerns of the youth. In line with this objective, private and government agencies have developed programs and projects for specific youth sectors which influence or may be influenced by adolescent secxuality norms. There are projects designed to suit the specific needs of in school youth, out of school youth, working youth, pregnnant unmarried women, and adolescent counselors. Some of these programs and projects are described. Similar to other projects, the adolescent fertility projects in the Philippines experience their share of problems and constrants, including shortage of trainers, lack of reliable data, inadequate supply of resource materials, and the need to strengthen government policy. In view of all this, a need exists to attract more people to train service providers who will attend to adolescents' information needs, ranging from common concerns like dating to more serious concerns like pregnancy. In a recent survey many service providers indicated that the were wary of providing contraceptive information and services to adolescents for 2 reasons: they believe these might promote sexual promiscuity among the married; and the fear they might be sued by irate parents. Coupled with the problem of lack of reliable data is the fact that few materials on sexually related materials have been developed in the philippines. Such local materials are needed for the benefit of both the youth and the service providers and counselors.     

Future population growth: researchers in three countries quantify causes and propose policies

This article discusses Population Council analyses conducted by social scientists from India, Kenya, and the Philippines. These scientists agreed that population momentum would continue to increase population size, and that governments must strengthen and create a range of economic, health, and social programs and policies to slow population growth. Multiple approaches will be needed. John Bongaarts is credited with being the first to identify the key role of population momentum and to decompose growth into unwanted fertility, high desired fertility, and population momentum. Unwanted fertility is responsible for about 19% of projected population growth in India, 26% in Kenya, and 16% in the Philippines. High wanted fertility accounts for 20% of future growth in India, 6% in Kenya, and 19% in the Philippines. Population momentum can account for under 50% or over 90% of growth. Unwanted fertility can be addressed by fulfilling unmet need and increasing knowledge of methods, reducing the fear of side effects and disapproval, and eliminating poor service. Family planning programs need to be strengthened and integrated with maternal and child health services. Preferred and actual family sizes can be reduced by lowering infant mortality by means of increasing infant and child health services and girls' educational attainment. Population momentum can be addressed by delaying age at marriage and childbearing through improving social conditions. Investments in human development through education, training, and income generation can create the conditions for slowing population growth. Countries should decompose population growth into its components of unwanted and high wanted fertility and population momentum as a means of distributing resources most effectively.     

Discovery learning: an ally in population education

"Discovery learning," as a teaching strategy, is being adopted by the Population Education Program of the Philippines. This approach, it is thought, will help students make up their own mind when it comes to family planning matters by urging them to look at population phenomena "through scientific eyes." It calls for the teacher to play a minor facilitative role rather than a dictatorial one. Numerous obstacles exist to the development of such a program, especially in the areas of teacher training, alteration of classroom logistics, and administrative support. Studies need to be made to determine the relationship between self-discovery and Filipino societal characteristics.     

Characteristics of the statute of China's population census in 1982]

China's 1982 census is described. The purpose was to contribute to the modernization of socialism. It was based on current conditions in China and conducted under government supervision using the international experience of the US, Canada, the Philippines, and Japan and with UN assistance for census sampling methods and computer data processing techniques. The census was taken with a strong emphasis on procedural quality control. Its target was Chinese citizens living in China and its territories; each individual was to be registered in his own domicile. The 1982 census listed 19 category items, over twice as many as the 1953 and 1964 censuses. Added to the basic information items of name, relationship to head of household, sex, age, ethnic origin, and education, were new items including employment, marital status, total number of births, number of children still living, and number of births, deaths and age at death in the previous year. The new categories instituted progressive approaches such as recording children of unwed mothers; and in education, recognizing experience level of older workers having little formal education but considerable practical expertise, including temporary employees in employment categories. Major difficulties were encountered in the data collection process: wide differences in education level among residents of the various geographical locations; registration of permanent residents using the household registration; registration of the transient population and people living on boats; determining employment classifications; and rendering the data suitable for data processing. However, the census was performed scientifically; census-takers interviewed each family and individual, and data was meticulously collected, calculated, and processed twice.     

The Catholic response to the population problem

A survey of efforts led or sponsored by the Catholic church in response to the population problem in the Philippines. These efforts stem from the Church's belief that population growth is related to the overall picture of development, and that priority must go to social and economic justice. The Catholic Church of the Philippines (to which 85% of the population belong) views it as a problem basically involving care of people, and directs its efforts primarily at internal human sexual control rather than external contraceptive control. Family Life Education began as a program in the church in the 1960s. Efforts by priests, nuns, and lay leaders in Mindanao eventually resulted in counseling in husband-wife relations, marriage commitment, human sexuality, parent-child relations, and responsible parenthood, and to the creation of college courses to prepare teachers in tackling sex education. A program offering natural family planning was also started, initially for employees of a packing firm and later expanding throughout the province. In 1975, the program was launched in Manila, and a year later had 3 family life centers. The ovulation (or Billings) method is offered -- an advantage to low income people because it does not require purchase of a thermometer. Success of this method requires a sense of responsibility on the part of both husband and wife. Widespread international interest in the ovulation method has led to formation of an International Federation for Family Life Promotion, to which the Philippine Federation for Natural Family Planning has applied for membership. The IFFLP is working with the WHO Human Reproduction Unit on 2 projects, part of one of them (a field trial for evaluation) being conducted in Iligan City, Iloilo City, and Manila. Among the concerns of the IFFLP-WHO collaboration is developing a standardized Natural Family Planning curriculum or educational package.     

Pop-ed programs for the out-of-school youth

39% of the Philippines youth are not in school and these youths receive no training for responsible parenthood and community life. A number of agencies try to reach these members of society, including the Bureau of Youth Welfare (BYW), the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines (FPOP), the Foundation for Youth Development in the Philippines (FYDP), the Rizal Youth Development Foundation (RYDF), the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM), and the Philippine Youth Welfare Coordinating Committee. BYW conducts informal group sessions including discussions among 13-24 year old members who have started self-employment projects. FPOP's youth program, SIGLA, aims at developing out-of-school youths social y and having them disseminate information to other out of school youths. This information includes family development, family planning, and population-related information, and is disseminated through activities and workshops. FYDP aims at functional literacy but also disseminates family planning information to out-of-school youths. RYDF conducts week-long seminars in topics such as birth processes, family relations, and care of babies. PRRM integrates population and family planning into its nonformal education program for out-of-school youth and adults in Nueva Ecija Province. Problems encountered in these programs are 1) suspicion of parents, and 2) feelings of inadequacy on the part of teachers. While emphasis has been on unemployed youth, efforts should be made to reach those youth who are employed.     

Premarriage education in family planning should begin in puberty]

The work of disseminating family planning information must begin at puberty in order to provide a sound foundation for future family planning education. Premarital education that begins at puberty should emphasize decreasing the number of early marriages, planning for only 1 child, and superior births. The Chinese Family Planning Association held a special seminar in November 1986, in Taicang County, Jiangsu Province, to study sex education. Some observations by individual participants are included below and do not represent the viewpoints of the Conference. Education at puberty concerns 2 primary areas: knowledge about sex, and morals concerning sex. At this age, physical changes are met by immature minds. Adolescents are not informed about the sexes; nor do they understand self control. Families and teachers must help them comprehend physical desire and relationships. The first step in educating adolescents is to eradicate feudal attitudes that make sex a taboo subject and that equate it with obscenity. Sex education is scientific and must be disseminated as such. If proper objective information is not provided, adolescents will acquire the wrong, and sometimes detrimental, information from peers. Early marriage, abortions by unwed mothers and sex crimes can be prevented by proper education. In those schools, particularly in Shanghai, which have sex education, the reception has been positive among teachers and students. Although sex education is crucial to educating adolescents, it should not be confined to this age group. Engaged couples and newlyweds also need such information.     

Malthus and the Philippines

Jose D. Drilon, Jr., president of Food Terminal, Inc., and a former undersecretary of the then Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources in the Philippines, attributes the widening gap between food supply and demand in developing countries to the high rate of population growth and to the inability of poor countries to produce more food. This situation, in which many countries are facing hunger, was predicted by Thomas Robert Malthus as early as the 16th century. The primary concern of Malthus was the problem of making the food supply keep pace with a constantly growing population. The question arises as to how reliable is Malthusian theory. According to Drilon, Malthus was correct in predicting that population would expand at a rate not previously imagined but that the other aspects of Malthusian theory might not hold true due to the intervention of human beings. For example, it is hoped that the imbalance between population growth and food production can be minimized in the future. In the Philippines there is good reason to be concerned about the validity of Malthusian theory. Although the country's growth rate has been reduced from 3.01% in 1970 to 2.6%, it is still quite high. However, the Philippines has actually been producing sufficient food to feed its population. To make the Philippines self-sufficient in rice, the government initiated the Masagana 99 program in May 1973. Technical and material resources from the public and private sectors were provided to aid rice producers. A nationwide information campaign was also launched to familiarize the farmers with the new methods of rice culture. Masagana 99 has been costly but effective. Since the launching of the program, rice production in the Philippines has been increasing at 7% a year. The government is now using the Masagana 99 formula to increase the production of other crops.     

Premarital information efforts under way

Premarital couples are among priority targets of family planning information in the Philippines national population program as they can serve a pivotal role in slowing population growth. Applicants for marriage licenses are required to attend a family planning session as a prerequisite. Following recommendations of a training effort and seminar on Premarital Family Planning Counseling, on July 20, 1976, premarital information was institutionalized in the country by Presidential DEcree 965 which made family planning counseling obligatory to the marriage license applicants. Shortly after that, a multiagency effort gathered information on the status of the Premarital information program in the Philippines, which showed that there is no full-time specialist for the work. Medical officers; social workers; community welfare supervisors; and program and training officers do this work of information in addition to their usual duties. Distribution of the applicants varied greatly in age groups, educational levels, and professional category. The size of the group, length of session and topics of discussion varied greatly. Necessary efforts should be made to solve the major problems by selecting better sites for group sessions and training more personnel for the purpose. There is a great need fordeveloping more effective and research oriented information, education and communication materials, according to the needs and cultural traits of the target audience.     

Poverty in the Philippines: the impact of family size

The people of Asia are beginning to realize that lower fertility translates into increased family wealth and educational attainment. This is the message that population and development efforts have been focusing on. In the Philippines, the goal is to lower fertility with a strategy based on the assumption that increased capacity of the economy will support a growing population at a higher standard of living. In the Philippines, over 33% of the households have 7 or more family members, while 20% of urban and 27% of rural households have 4 or more. The risk of poverty associated with increased number of children are 44-50% for 1 child and 60-78% for those with 5. Households spend up to 10% of their total income to raise 1 child, 18% for 2, and 26% for 4 children. Because many families lack the resources to raise children the per child share drops dramatically with each child, a household with 4 children spends 25% less per child than does 1 with 2 children. Occupation also affects income as the highest poverty rates are among heads of household who are: laborers (60%) and agricultural workers (73%). The best solution is an integrated approach with increases in family planning, education, and agricultural reform.     

Training schemes for teachers in population education

Population education is now part of the academic curriculum on the elementary, secondary, and tertiary levels in the Philippines, so adequate teacher training in the subject is important. When the teacher training program was instituted, a number of problems arose that can slow implementation of the curricular additions. The areas of concern are trainer competence, quality of training because of a lack of favorable attitudes toward population education, negative teacher attitude, superficial understanding of the subject by the teachers, lack of classroom space, and a training overload due to concurrent training in other fields. A combination of solutions are being investigated including a proposal for uniform guidelines for a structured training program as well as a modular training program that entails independent study.     

ESCAP migration study gathers momentum

A comparative study is being conducted in the ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) region on the relationships of migration and urbanization to development. The 1st stage of the study will entail the preparation of country reports on the census analysis of migration, urbanization and development. The 2nd stage will involve preparation of a series of national migration surveys. The 3rd phase will involve assisting member governments to formulate a comprehensive population redistribution policy as part of their national development planning. 1st-phase country reports have been completed in Sri Lanka, South Korea, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Migration in Sri Lanka has largely been rural-to-rural with little urbanization so far. The picture in South Korea has been the opposite, with rapid urbanization in the 1960s and 1970s; the government is hoping to divert some population to smaller cities away from Seoul. The pattern in the Philippines is 1 of urban primacy with the metropolis of Manila accounting for over 1/3 of the country's total population. Indonesia is characterized by a dense heartland in the Java-Bali regions. However, the rate of urbanization here has been slower. Migrants in all the countries studied are preponderantly young. The sex differential varies from country to country. The influence of migration on subsequent fertility is unknown.     

Are young people in the Philippines taking chances with HIV / AIDS?

The numbers of AIDS cases and HIV infections detected in the Philippines have risen slowly but steadily since the first AIDS case in the country was diagnosed in 1984. By the end of 1995, 234 AIDS cases and 470 HIV infections had been reported to the country's Department of Health. However, given the limited extent to which people have been tested for HIV infection, there are most likely many more cases than reported. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is spreading within the Filipino population. The country's substantial commercial sex trade, reports suggesting that many unmarried young men have sexual intercourse with girlfriends and acquaintances, and IV drug use among a small number of young people are factors which contribute to the potential for a serious HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Philippines. Findings from the 1994 national Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study, a household survey covering 10,879 men and women aged 15-24 years in 959 different communities, are presented. Almost all respondents had heard of AIDS, but there was some degree of ignorance and misinformation on the modes of HIV transmission. 13% of all single men reported having had only one sex partner, 10% reported two or more partners, and 3% reported five or more. 98% of sexually active men had heard of condoms, 58% knew that condom use can protect against HIV infection, 23% reported ever having used one, and 4% reported using a condom during the most recent act of sexual intercourse.     

Family planning among the Maranaos

An effort has been made to introduce population education concepts and family planning practice to the Maranaos of Lanao del Sur province in the southern Philippines. A survey conducted in 1969 revealed that an overwhelming majority were opposed to family planning, because of the belief that it ran counter to the teachings of the Koran. In 1969, Dansalan College 1st opened a maternity clinic and, subsequently, established a family planning clinic on campus, the only one of its kind in the province. Since the clinic began operations, a total of about 1370 acceptors have been recruited. The oral contraceptive is the most preferred method among the acceptors, accounting for 60%, followed by the injectable. Additionally, the college has integrated family planning and population education into its Community Service Program. Despite several years of effort by Dansalan College, however, Maranaos have failed to respond significantly to practicing family planning. College officials continue to be optimistic, recognizing that the effort will take years of motivating and education.     

Outreach: helping achieve coordination in the field

The outreach officials of the National Population Program of the Philippines, with its 4 basic functions of research, training, information-education-communication, and clinic services, are trying to solve pressing problems which have been an outgrowth of developments of the early 1970s when population and family planning concepts were integrated into other government programs. Given the task of attacking these problems and coordinating the whole program was the newly organized Commission on Population (Popcom). The organizations which had their own programs cooperated with the government agencies. Initially thought of as workable, the early strategy was soon found to be inadequate, and in July 1975, Popcom implemented an integrated development approach in population work. The strategy is complex, and as it undergoes refinement, the program may well profit from the experiences or lessions gained by a number of agencies in carrying out population/development activities. The approach used by the Office of Nonformal Education of the Philippines Rural Reconstruction Movement is seen as potentially helpful to the outreach project in developing 3 types of leadership in order to properly integrate or link private and public agencies, and ensure a continuing development program: political, educational, and technical. It is stressed that outsiders can help, but it is the community which must basically do the job themselves. So different government technicians are trained so that they can effectively train other people from the community, and do it in such a way that the program will be continuing and self-releasing.