KUCHING: The Sarawak government has been raising awareness of the need to reduce teenage pregnancies in the state, said Welfare, Community Well Being, Women, Family and Childhood Development Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah.
“For my ministry, we are looking at the issue from a practical point of view by focusing more on targeted groups.
“We have been promoting awareness of the teenage pregnancy issue through community programmes and schools throughout the state.
“For example, we have established a One Stop Teenage Pregnancy Centre (OSTPC) to help pregnant teenagers.
“Sexual education and awareness programme (KAPS) and Randau social programmes have also been carried out in all schools in Sri Aman,” she added.
She was commenting on the recent call by Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Women chief, Kho Teck Wan to the Education Ministry to integrate the subject of sexual health into young children’s education to raise awareness of the need to curb teenage pregnancies.
Said Fatimah, “Issues which concern sexual health education, responsibilities of raising a child and consequences of teenage pregnancy needs to be addressed holistically. Need to be addressed not only through formal education but also informal education.
“Sharing sessions are among the most effective ways because it is not easy to talk about sex with teenagers as it involves their emotions and feelings.
“Although teenage pregnancies have been decreased gradually, we still need to work in order to ensure our teenagers can finish their schooling and do not drop out from school,” she added.
She added that it would be a hassle for teachers if new subjects were constantly added into the school curriculum.
She pointed out that the inclusion of the social issue into the school curriculum would not be addressed effectively as the teachers’ schedules were already compact.
“From my experience as a teacher, let’s say one teacher has nine periods (time) to teach certain subjects per day. Imagine if the teacher needs to teach two to three subjects for one day. How can the teachers organise their time if new subjects are being added into their already tight schedules?.
Fatimah was interviewed by reporters after launching the Excellence Service Award 2019 organised by Sarawak Women and Family Department (JWKS) here at Wisma Wanita in Jalan Sultan Tengah on Tuesday (June 16).
