Sex education module for January National Service intake

A slot on sex education will be introduced in the National Service (NS) Training Programme at its January 2009 intake, said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen.

She said the education module on it will be implemented through a special slot lasting 10 hours at all NS camps.

“The module is known as ‘Self Preservation, Self Protection and Self Deter-mination’ whereby the scope of teaching will cover individual and family values, and understanding physical and emotional changes that each person undergoes.

“We ought to introduce these aspects so that they (NS trainees) know themselves better and are able to handle problems during the adoles-cent stage their lives,” she told reporters after opening the National Demography Conference 2008 yesterday.

She said most adolescents got their information about sex from unofficial sources like during conversations with peers or through the Internet where some of the information presented might not be very accurate.

On another matter, Ng said the ministry planned to set up a special unit to come out with a parenting module for fathers.

“According to studies conducted done on the subject, men are found to be less able to handle emotional stress compared to women.

“They are reluctant to get help from experts and will bottle up their emotions which can lead to various social problems,” she said.

She said the unit would cooperate with non-govern mental agencies like the International Planned Parenthood Federation and United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) in the matter.

— Bernama