Notes on six essential branches of Home Science Education

The aims of Home Science education are many and manifold. On the basis of this, the structure of “Home Science Education” is built up with wide areas of specialisations such as:

1. Human development and family studies.

2. Foods and nutrition

3. Family resource management

4. Clothing’s and Textiles

5. Home Science Extension Education

6. Food Service Management

1. Human Development and Family Studies:

The area of human development and family studies exposes the students to the various aspects of human growth and development from conception, through infancy, early childhood years, adolescence, adulthood ‘and the period of old age. It aims at creating awareness regarding the crucial importance of early childhood, school going and adolescent years and the dynamics of contemporary family life. The major purpose is to understand child care, development, education, guidance, special needs of children and adolescents, develop various indigenous and practically possible skills for organising children’s, activities. It also includes the study of women, population education, psychology, sociology, the life span development, counseling and guidance, and community development.

2. Foods and nutrition:

This area of Home Science help pupils to recognise that nutrition is important for healthy living and that health is essential for success and happiness. It gives understanding about the types of foods, its functions, requirements, sources, storage, preparation, principles and methods of preserving foods, chemistry and metabolism of nutrients in health and diseases, meal planning about the dangers of population explosion on health status of the people; understanding community nutrition problems and ways of imparting nutrition and health education to different target population.

3. Family Resource Management:

This is another important area of Home Science Education. It aims at imparting various concepts and principles of management in home managing, acquiring information’s regarding the selection of appropriate equipments for home, their operation, care and maintenance; learning to make wise financial decisions (expenditure and savings etc); facts about housing, work simplification, interior decoration, fuel and energy management with the appropriate technologies available for better living.

4. Clothing’s and Textiles:

This area aims at providing knowledge regarding purchasing family clothing’s- its construction, nature and types of fibers; dyeing, printing and weaving of clothes etc. It deals with the care and maintenance of varied types of clothing’s and its selection according to the climate, occasion and availability. This branch of Home Science requires a science background, as it deals with the understanding of the chemistry of textile engineering.

5. Home Science Extension Education:

The role of extension education in Home Science is crucial as it deals and interacts with all other branches of Home Science. The major objectives of it is to extend and translate the knowledge of other branches of Home Science, such as nutrition, human development & family studies, clothing’s and textiles into action for the general wellbeing of people focus. Its special focus involves the understanding of rural economic structure, as India lives and survives in rural villages and improving their general standard of living. It tries to improve the social, economic, education status of the common mass through the use of audio-visual aids, adult education programmes, functional literacy programme, planning and execution of welfare programmes

6. Food Service Management:

This is the most recent branch of Home Science owing to the need and demand of the present day society. It provides knowledge regarding different food stuffs, its requirement by the individuals in different stages and conditions of life; nature and type of servicing to different institutions like schools, colleges, hospitals, hotels, industry and organizations etc. Along with its knowledge regarding food values, nutrients, preservative function, it also provides training and education regarding the types of diets required during special health conditions.