Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, stated that the government is set to increase the class time for reproductive and social health education (PEERS) as a growing number of teenagers are engaging in sexual activities.

PEERS education is currently taught at primary and secondary schools for thirty minutes a week but the Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) comments that there is no need to extend the time for PEERS.

Instead, the organization urged the Communications and Digital Ministry to eliminate access to pornography by students who usually spend a considerable time browsing the Internet on their mobile phones.

PAGE also wants the Education Ministry to make teaching and learning interesting so that students have no time to think of sex and suggested that this can be achieved by teaching mathematics and science in English.

A family medicine expert concurred with PAGE and stated that it will be futile to just increase classroom time on PEERS but to get to the root of the problem which is the widespread availability of pornography for students.

Others opine that PEERS should be made more widely understood and factual and should not just cover the physical aspects of sexual and reproductive health but also to delve into the emotional and psychological aspects.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE