Time for better sex education in Malaysia – ministry

Sex education in Malaysia should be improved and incorporated into subjects like Moral Studies and Islamic Studies in schools, according to a new recommendation for the review of the national education system by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

“All these while, our children are exposed to unverified information from the social media or worldwide web,” said its minister Rohani Karim (as quoted by The Borneo Post), after chairing the Malaysian Council for Child Welfare meeting last Friday.

Rohani explained that among the issues highlighted during the meeting was the safety of children, especially those who have been sexually abused. The council had decided that there should be a proper channel set up for children to access information about reproductive health.

The need for sex education in Malaysia https://t.co/U75R4z3u8U

— Free Malaysia Today (@fmtoday) September 22, 2017

Teaching sex in schools is hoped to be able to help curb sexual crimes against children in the country by spreading awareness and information, the minister said. Sixty-one percent of sexual crime victims in Malaysia involve children, according to statistics by the Royal Malaysian Police.

Sex education is currently taught as part of subjects like Moral and Islamic studies, science, and biology, where its focus is on abstinence.

However, the Deputy Education Minister Chong Sin Woon earlier this year made assurances that the ministry is looking into developing a more “open and well-informed” sex education in schools, as reported by The Malay Mail Online.

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