In the 1960s concern over rapid population growth led to population education programs in the schools. These curricula focused on the relationships among population growth, the nation, and the individual. Students learned that their choices about family size shaped their own futures and the future of the nation as well. Development planners assumed that this information would motivate young people to limit the size of their own families (74). The first national programs, in India, the Philippines, and South Korea in the late 1960s and early 1970s, did not cover sexuality or contraception. Some early programs in the 1970s in Latin America did discuss human reproductive physiology, while those in Africa emphasized economic development and environmental issues (74, 74, 495). Then, as now, each nation designed its own school curricula and decided how the program would be implemented.

Now, most programs, under the broad heading Family Life Education, focus on helping young people plan productive lives. The course materials discuss population growth but also cover topics such as personal health and nutrition, life planning, decision-making, and respect for both women and men (446). Some programs also include discussion of reproductive physiology, sexuality, and contraception. Although some nations such as India and Kenya have uniform programs with curricula designed by ministries of education, others allow regions, school districts, or even individual schools or teachers to choose the topics taught (446). In many places FLE programs are controversial, and, even where the government endorses them, they are not always implemented, often because teachers object to the material or have not been trained (320). Most FLE programs have not been evaluated or even described in detail, and so little is known about their impact.

In the late 1980s many nations and school systems saw FLE in schools as a fast and efficient way to inform the public about AIDS. Existing programs added information about AIDS (495). In some countries, such as Malawi and Peru, new FLE programs were started to cover AIDS (81, 234).

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have funded most FLE programs in developing countries. In 1995 UNFPA was supporting national or regional school programs in 79 countries worldwide. In some places UNFPA also assists FLE outreach programs run by nongovernmental organizations and youth groups such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides (447).