logo
Education Ministry to ramp up sex ed in schools by 2027 to curb harassment, online predators

Education Ministry to ramp up sex ed in schools by 2027 to curb harassment, online predators

Malay Mail13-06-2025

KUALA LUMPUR, June 13 — The teaching time for the Reproductive and Social Health Education Guidelines (PEERS) module will be increased in the implementation of the 2027 School Curriculum.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the module, which was launched in November last year, among other things, aims to increase reproductive health awareness among the community, especially students, teachers and parents.
'All MOE (Ministry of Education) educational institutions are requested to comply with the guidelines to address the issue of sexual harassment. Psychosocial support services also need to be further strengthened to provide support to students,' she said in a statement today.
Fadhlina said MOE takes seriously media reports on the existence of paedophile pages on social media featuring school students and urged that such pages be reported immediately.
'The existence of social media pages that display pornographic and immoral content needs to be curbed,' she said.
At the same time, she also urged parents to play a proactive role at home by educating and protecting children from the threat of sexual harassment.
'They are also responsible in ensuring that the dignity of children is preserved,' she said. — Bernama

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Incentives better than taxes for healthy eating habits, says expert
Incentives better than taxes for healthy eating habits, says expert

Free Malaysia Today

timean hour ago

  • Free Malaysia Today

Incentives better than taxes for healthy eating habits, says expert

The government has been criticised for overreliance on market-based tools like the sugar tax, which show little effect on better public health. (Rawpixel pic) PETALING JAYA : Malaysia should put greater emphasis on incentive-driven strategies in its policies for promoting healthier eating, says a veteran nutritionist. Dr Tee E Siong said the government has been using punitive measures, such as the sugar tax, without evidence demonstrating any success in changing habits. 'I would prefer to go more for the carrot (incentives) rather than sticks (fines and taxes),' the adjunct professor at IMU University told FMT. 'Are there clear examples here or abroad that show sugar taxes really steer people away from sugary beverages and toward better choices?' He urged the government to provide tax breaks to food manufacturers that create healthier alternatives and invest in research and development, as outlined in Malaysia's national plan of action for nutrition. Tee, a former president of the Nutrition Society of Malaysia, said consumers, too, should also be given incentives as highlighted in the 2023 health white paper, and to companies which provide programmes to encourage a healthy lifestyle, including healthy eating and active living. Malaysia's 'overreliance on market-based tools' like the sugar tax, came under criticism recently from economist Jomo Kwame Sundaram, who said such measures have had little effect on public health outcomes. Official data show rising rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes (from 11.2% in 2011 to 18.3% in 2019 and 15-16% by 2023) and adult obesity rising from 44.5% to 54.4% over the same period. However, health systems specialist Dr Khor Swee Kheng said the government should not limit itself to a single type of policy but instead adopt an all-of-the-above approach. 'The main objective of healthy eating is to improve the health of Malaysians without compromising taste, local culture and domestic food security,' he said. 'There is a range of policy options, ranging from tax deductions, subsidies for healthy foods, and provision of vouchers, to the more interventionist policies like Japan's School Lunch Act.' Azrul Khalib, CEO of the Galen Centre for Health and Social Policy, called for more policy coherence, criticising the contradiction of subsidising sugar while imposing a sugar tax. 'We cannot subsidise sugar at a cost of up to RM600 million a year and yet impose a sugar tax which collects only around RM400 million. 'We need to remove the sugar subsidies immediately so that the revenue collected can be invested in better health promotion programmes, which are currently extremely underfunded,' he said.

Middle-aged man in Cambodia dies of H5N1 bird flu
Middle-aged man in Cambodia dies of H5N1 bird flu

The Star

time12 hours ago

  • The Star

Middle-aged man in Cambodia dies of H5N1 bird flu

PHNOM PENH (Bernama-Xinhua): A 52-year-old man from southeastern Cambodia's Svay Rieng province had died of H5N1 human avian influenza, becoming the fifth human death from the virus so far this year. "A laboratory result from the National Institute of Public Health showed on June 20 that the man was positive for H5N1 virus," the Ministry of Health said in a press statement on Saturday. Health authorities are looking into the source of the infection and are examining any suspected cases or people who have been in contact with the victim in order to prevent an outbreak in the community, it added. Tamiflu (oseltamivir), an antiviral drug to prevent the bird flu from spreading, was also given out to people who had direct contact with the patient, the statement said. The South-East Asian country recorded a total of six human cases of H5N1 so far this year, with five deaths. - Bernama-Xinhua

Gaza: 202 Bodies Brought To Hospitals In Last 48 Hours
Gaza: 202 Bodies Brought To Hospitals In Last 48 Hours

Barnama

time13 hours ago

  • Barnama

Gaza: 202 Bodies Brought To Hospitals In Last 48 Hours

ANKARA, June 21 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- At least 55,908 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's genocidal war since October 2023, the Health Ministry said on Saturday. Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported a ministry statement said that 202 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last 48 hours, while 1,037 people were injured, taking the number of injuries to 131,138 in the Israeli onslaught. 'Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,' it added.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store