She added that there were 1,035 child marriages in 2022, a slight decrease from 1,151 the previous year.

Nancy said the ministry was working with its counterparts in the education ministry to improve awareness on the issue and take steps to discourage children from getting married.

“The national population and family development board conducts ‘SmartStart’ programmes to help educate those who want to get married, so they know the challenges they will be facing,” she said at a press conference here today.

She also said the ministry’s Kafe@Teen programme provided counsellors to schools so children could talk about problems they were facing.

Data from the statistics department shows that 1,500 children were married each year between 2007 and 2019. Some 90% of them were girls.

Earlier this year, the education ministry announced it was nearing the completion of plans to extend compulsory schooling to 11 years – until Form Five.

Deputy education minister Wong Kah Woh said this was crucial to address the issue of children dropping out of school before completing their secondary education.

“This is one of the ways to get students to continue their education and stay in school longer to stop them from getting involved in other activities,” Nancy said.