Some Observations on Family Life Education in India Author(s): Grace S.

Forbes Reviewed work(s): Source: Marriage and Family Living, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Nov., 1963), pp. 466-468 Published by: National Council on Family Relations Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/349047 . Accessed: 27/04/2012 22:40
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Some Observations on Family Life Education in India

GRACE S. FORBES San Jose State College FAMILY LIFE Educationwith its biological implications is not generally accepted in India as an appropriatesubject to be taught in the schools and colleges. As far as known, this field of instruction is, therefore, not reflected in the curriculumof any of the teachers colleges. In the primary schools (ages 6-11), references to sex phenomenaare avoided becauseit is not envisioned that children of this age should ask questions about these matters. One prominent educator said, when asked what was done when children inquired about the origin of babies, "In India, children simply do not ask such questions; but if such a thing should occur,the answerswould come from the parents, or possibly from older children." In co-educational schools at the primary level, however, sometimes questions indirectly referring to sex may be broughtup, such as the importance of giving girls an equal opportunity for an educationas boys, or some other matter of sociological significance.It must be remembered that India's society is man-centered,and that only those persons who live in cities, or who have otherwisecome in contactwith western culture, are likely to be preparedto accept girls and women on the basis of social and educationalequality. In junior high schools (ages 11-14), and in teacherscolleges preparingprospectiveteachers for these institutions, direct instruction in the and the other changes meaning of menstruation accompanyingadolescenceis not generally included in the curriculum,although some material tangential to this phase of human growth and development may be introduced in Hygiene or in Home Science. In the higher secondaryschools, and in the "degree colleges" for prospective teachers, Family Life Educationhas larger areasof reference in Educational Psychology, especially in Mental Health; in Home Science, in Growth and Development, and in Mothercraft;in General Science; and in Biology. But there is no instruction in the physiology of reproduction, sex relationships, the responsibilities of marriage and parenthoodand other importantmatters included in Family Life Education.In fact, 466 in all of India today, instructionin Family Life Educationis confined to the curriculumof the Departmentsof Social, Preventive, and Family Medicinein the sixty-fourmedicalcolleges. These are the present conditions, but they have begun to be modified in the group of teachers colleges and higher secondaryschools included in this field study. In these instituand tions, administrators teachersare beginning to understandthat educationfor marriageand family living is essential for age group 14-17 becauseof the all-out effort India is preparing to make for population control under the Family Planning program during the next twenty years. The basis for this program,from a long range viewpoint, will have to be laid in the schools in a comprehensive system of Family Life Education. The principles of the Family Planning program in India must be taught in the secondary schools because the problem of over-population demands instruction at all educationaland social levels to ensure its success. It is particularlyimportantto bring Family Life Education,including the rudimentsof family planning, into the curriculum of the higher secondaryschools because many of these young people are about to be married and should be made awareof the responsibilities they are going to have to face. One of the principles interviewed said, "If family planning fails in India today, everythingelse fails." Another principal said, "There are many teachers who are not willing, or emotionally able, to handle this subject today because teacherscolleges simply have not faced the issue, and have not brought this material into the curriculum. It should be taught in an appropriate manner in the syllabus on Hygiene." Still another principal remarkedthat he would welcome an opportunity to introduce the subject of the physiology of reproductionand family planning into his curriculum,but the teachers now lack the time to teach it. "Only when the State puts the subject into their curriculum can it be taught," he stated. To date, it thus appears that Family Planning, with its appropriate backgroundof family life education,has not been introducedinto the curriculumof the teachers colleges in India. There seems to be November, 1963

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only one teacherscollege, a ruralinstitutein the State of Bombay,to which this is an exception. In this institution,FamilyPlanning is placed in the syllabusin CommunityDevelopment. The problem of sex education and family living is rather different in rural and urban areas. In the country,children come in contact with the reproductive processesof farm animals and understand how fertilization and birth processesoccur. In cities, children do not have a similar opportunityto observe nature in operation. City children, however, usually come to know their parents better. It is customaryfor the family to eat togetherin urbanlife, whereas in rural life this is seldom done. In the agricultural areas of India, although men and women work side by side in the fields, the living quartersfor the males may be located apart from those occupiedby the females. There may be a women's wing and a men's wing, with little communication between them; or the men When the may occupyentirelyseparatequarters. family is at leisure, women seldom have an opportunityto sit down face to face with the men in discussing matters of general interest. At meal time, the men eat first; women take what is left after the men have eaten. Understandingof family life, therefore,variesgreatly in urbanand ruralcenters. But Family Life Education,that is, instruction in the responsibilities of marriage and family living, is graduallybecoming recognized as a necessity in the curriculumdevelopment of the schools of India, and the teachers colthe leges are now contemplating additionof this subject to their educationalprogram. There is some differenceof opinion, however, about its proper relationship to other subjects of the curriculum.Some educatorsin the teacherscolleges feel that Family Life Educationshould be incorporatedinto the syllabus for Community Development in rural areas, but there appears to be rather general agreement that it most properlybelongs in the distinct subject area of health education in the curriculumof urban schools. There has been some experimentation this in field. A few universitieshave carriedout a project in which a series of lectureswere given on Family Life Education.The physiology of reproduction,sexual adjustmentin marriage,the months before birth, principles of growth and development, and the control of reproduction were discussed. The students accepted this instructionin a maturemanner and expressedan interestin having the lectureseriescontinued. November, 1963

Young people of India are now facing problems of marriageand family living with which they have not previouslybeen conversant.Due with the West, matters largely to acculturation of sex roles, the wise choice of a marriagepartner, the negativeattitudeson the part of parents toward inter-racialand inter-culturalmarriage, the problem of sexual maladjustment marriin age, family health, and the limitation in the number of children-these questions are now croppingup. In one college it was said that the largest amount of time of the Principalis now devoted to counseling and guidance in matters of this sort. Arranged marriagesare still depended upon for stabilityof the Indian family, but the problem of maladjustmentin marriageis now becoming recognized. Formerly the wife simply acceptedas her "karma"or fate whatever difficulties she might encounter in the marriage. There was no other way out. As women have become educated, however, they have become acquainted with western customs and their viewpoint has changed. Indeed, India has now passed a divorce law to help couples who are unable to solve their maritalproblemseither by themselves, or with the help of the counsel of elders in the family group. Divorce is available to those who have found their marriage unworkable. The conditions under which the divorce can be obtained, however, are clearly defined, and strictly interpreted: adultery, cruelty, and diseases such as leprosy or intractablemental disease are the chief legal groundsfor divorce. The first organization in India to sponsor sex educationwas the All India Moral and Social Hygiene Association. This associationhas a long and distinguishedrecord in the field of social reform. It was founded by Keshab Chander Sen, who led the movement for improvement in the status of women. Formerlythe Association devoted its major efforts toward opposing prostitutionand trafficin women; more recently it has been promoting sex education and education for family living in Indian schools. Other organizationshave shared in the task of sensitizing the people of India to the need for FamilyPlanning. The foundationwork for the introductionof Family Life Educationinto the schools and colleges has thus been laid in these various ways in India. It is now included in the new syllabi in health education for schools and training colleges soon to be introducedinto the curriculum. These syllabi are the work of the Joint Committee of the Ministries of Health and 467

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Education in cooperation with the World Health Organization.They are now ready in tentative form. The syllabus for ages 6-11 for use in the primaryschools is said to be ready for editing and printing, while further development of the two other syllabi for junior high schools, ages 11-14, and higher secondary schools, ages 14-17, will be needed. What is now requiredto get this programinto action seems to be (1) a training programin health educationfor the teacherswho are to teach this subject; (2) the provision of guide books and suitable textbooks; (3) community support throughparent-teacher organizations;(4) much work at all levels in both ruraland promotional urban areas in the matter of good health habits; (5) sensitizationof the population to the urgency of education for family living as an appropriatebasis for the program in family planning and population control; (6) accelerateddevelopmentof mass media, especiallyed-

ucational television; (7) greater emphasis on communicationand coordination between the States'Departmentsof Educationand the Community Development Blocks with the training colleges for teachers. This report is based on the studies made by the author during the spring of 1962 while on sabbaticalleave from San Jose State College. She is greatly indebted to her sponsors and to the host institutionsfor the manyconferences and courtesiesof this study tour. She is especially indebted to Mr. J. P. Naik and Smt. V. Mulay of the Ministryof Education,Government of India, and to Dr. Moye Freymannand Dr. Dorothy Nyswander of the Ford Foundation, who made it possible for her to visit the sites. This report has relied mainly on conferences held with administrators and faculty membersof training colleges for teachers,and with leaders of other educational institutions in the Statesof UttarPradeshand the Punjab.

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November, 1963