Let's talk about sex: Why having sex education in schools is so important

Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) lays the foundation for healthy adolescence, say experts. Photo: Pixabay

Comprehensive and reliable sex education is needed in schools in order to curb social issues such as sexual grooming, teenage pregnancies, child marriage and online and offline sexual violence, says Unicef representative to Malaysia and special representative to Brunei Darussalam Dr Rashed Mustafa Sarwar.

“In Malaysia, lack of access to effective comprehensive sexuality education is recognised as a driver of child marriage. Evidence and experience show that many of these cases of teen pregnancy and child marriage could have been prevented if children and young people had access to reliable and comprehensive, age appropriate reproductive health education,” says Dr Rashed.