KUALA KUBU BARU: In a rare act of defiance, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said her ministry will continue to push for sex education in schools despite pressure from religious groups and senior leaders.
Speaking to FMT here yesterday, Shahrizat said it was ludicrous to continue ignoring the issue and sweeping reality under the carpet.
“I am standing my ground .. I will push this through because things are not the same as before,” she stressed.
Shahrizat said the statistics of abandoned babies and unplanned teen pregnancies were real and needed urgent attention.
The minister was responding to the comments by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Mahathir had chided Shahrizat’s move to introduce sex education as a subject in school, saying that Islamic Studies and Moral Education have already covered these bases.
He said the issue of sex centred around urges which needed to be controlled through self-discipline, adding that perhaps Islamic Studies and Moral Education subjects could focus more on this issue.
The opposition Islamic-based PAS, which rarely sees eye-to-eye with Mahathir, had backed the former premier's views on this matter.
'We need to be frank with them'
However, Shahrizat has a different take.
“Things are different today than when we were young... it’s about relating to the young who have easy access to information and truth.
“We need to be frank with them. We need to tell them the issues involved,” she said.
The minister cited the National Registration Department (NRD) statistics which noted that 257,411 newborns, between 2000 and 2008, did not have their fathers' names. On a daily count, it means an average of 78 babies have been born out of wedlock.
And according to the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, no less worrisome is the statistics on abandoned babies.
Between 2005 and 2010, 407 babies were literally dumped.
Last month, the National Union of Teaching Professional (NUTP) had called on the Health Ministry and NGOs to help carry out sex education programmes in school.
The call came after it was found that majority of NUTP members were uncomfortable about handling the subject in school.
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