Population explosion- What Are the Negative and Positive Effects of Population Growth on Education 

Back to: Contemporary India and Education-Unit 1

Population explosion refers to the growth in the number of people that constitutes a population. In 2020, the global population had increased from 1 billion in 1800 to 7.9 billion. One of the leading causes of the population is believed to be poverty. In simple terms, population explosion can be referred to as the sudden growth in the number of individuals belonging to a particular species. The term is mostly used about the population boom that yielded after the Second World War. This took place due to a decrease in infant mortality increased life expectancy, and an accelerated birth rate.

Negative Effects of Population Growth on Education

The negative effects of population growth on education are as follows:

1. Overcrowding: Population explosion leads to overcrowding in the classroom which may yield a sense of negativity amongst many learners inside the classroom.
2. Lack of attention: When there is overpopulation, the classroom will have more strength in the number of students and when there are more students, teachers may not be able to pay full attention to all learners and their performance.
3. Distraction: Too much population in the classroom can lead learners to feel distracted and cause them to divert their attention from what is being taught.
4. Confusion: Overpopulation leads to the presence of more students in the classroom and this can make the learners feel confused especially when their queries are left unanswered.
5. Lack of Quality Instruction: When teachers are in a classroom that has many students, they have to spend most of their teaching session managing the students for a well-behaved classroom rather than focusing on the quality of their instructions.

Positive Effects of Population Growth on Education

1. Facilitates Communication: Overpopulation fosters the inclusion of different learners in the classroom which facilitates diverse communication.
2. Facilitates Diversity: In the classroom, there may be students belonging to different cultures and societies due to overpopulation and this can facilitate diversity.
3. Interdependence: Overcrowding in the classroom can facilitate interdependence amongst students which can consequently lead to interconnectedness.
4. Different Values: Students can gain an exposure to different and diverse set of values and beliefs through overpopulation.

There are not many advantages offered by population explosion as the world hosts limited resources. When there is population growth, the limited availability of resources is not enough to facilitate everyone. Hence, in the education sector too, it becomes very difficult to decode the benefits offered by overpopulation as overcrowding in the classroom has never been perceived to be a positive thing.