Bangladesh [population education in countries of the region].

1 of the most pressing needs in coping with Bangladesh’s massive and rapidly growing population is to develop a strong system of information, education, and motivation (IEM) suitable for a country with 75% of the population illiterate. The government has strongly emphasized population education in the formal school system, and it is expected that by 1985 population education will have been introduced from grades 4-12. Long range objectives of the IEM program include making population control and family planning an integral part of national development, production of informed citizens who will behave in accordance with national needs and goals in their reproductive lives, preparation of leaders in the population field, and institutionalization of population education in the school system. Immediate goals include development of supporting materials and training of 67,000 teachers in population topics. Planning, coordination, materials development, publishing, evaluation, and research in IEM are conducted at the national headquarters in Dacca but most training activities are carried out at the district level. Some 50,000 teachers at various levels have already been trained, and by the end of the program some 68% of primary teachers will have received training. Face-to-face training using a variety of methodologies is used for all levels of teachers. 6 attitude and evaluation studies of the IEM program have been published through 1981, and other projects are underway. 60,000 training manuals, 20,000 training modules, and 665,000 copies of the Population Education Bulletin have been published. The program maintains a population educaiton library and mobile library, and has undertaken compilation of a national bibliography on population education. The program maintains ties with the Population Control and Family Planning Division of the government and with various other government and private institutions. 16 ministries and several voluntary organizations in addition to the Ministry of Education offer nonformal population education programs.