The gaps in Malaysia’s sex education syllabus must be addressed to curb social problems among the youth, says youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh.
Yeoh said data showed that many teenagers become sexually active before the age of 14, but formal sex education in schools begins only at the age of 15, Bernama reported.
“This gap needs to be addressed,” she was quoted as saying at Wisma KBS after chairing a roundtable discussion on tackling social issues with youth leaders from various religions.
Yeoh said both the education ministry and the health ministry had acknowledged the issue and would work on improving the syllabus.
She also said conventional approaches to addressing youth social problems were no longer sufficient.
“We need to think outside the box in tackling youth social issues, as this is becoming increasingly complex,” she said.
As such, Yeoh said the government would focus on developing digital content and using online algorithms to better reach the youth.
She also revealed a decline in youth participation in physical clubs and associations, with just one million youths actively involved.
“This means they are no longer interested in physical activities and prefer online or networking platforms. So, we need to know how to optimise and leverage this situation,” she said.
