Claiming there were other factors that likely contributed to the increase in cases of STDs, president of the PIBGN, Mohamad Ali Hassan, said, “How can we guarantee that having sex education in schools will ensure children will not get involved in sexual activities?
“There is plenty of uncensored information that can be found on the Internet, as well as pornographic material one can buy from stores. There are also numerous reflexology centres that offer sexual services, which could also cause a boom in STDs (among youth),” he told FMT.
“No one should jump to conclusions without a comprehensive study to determine the main cause (of the rise in STDs).”
He said this in response to a recent statement by Deputy Education Minister P Kamalanathan that a comprehensive study was needed to show the potential link between sex education and the high increase of cases among students.
PAGE chairman Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim meanwhile said parents were not playing the role of sex educators either thus making it unfair to blame schools solely for failing to educate students on sex and STDs.
“It’s easy to pass the buck, but good upbringing starts from home. If the parents themselves can’t teach proper sex education, then they should not have children.
“The children are the parents’ responsibility and there is no two ways about it,” she said.