The Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS) is concerned that the percentage of teenage births in Sarawak that has risen to an alarming level of approximately 8.35 percent or 3,547 births out of 42,481 recorded in the state last year.

“This is double that of the national level of four percent for births from teenagers who are in the region of 15 to 19 years old,” SWWS president Margaret Bedus said in a statement.

SWWS therefore reiterated its earlier call for the implementation of age-appropriate and holistic reproductive health and social education in secondary schools as a long-term solution to the matter.

“Now is the time to act,” Bedus said, adding that the education programme idea was obviously for the young people to be given the information they needed to understand about how to look after themselves, including their own sexual health.

This is something SWWS has been asking for a long time, she said.

The society has worked with the schools and teachers in Sarawak through its ‘Children’s Personal Safety ‘Module for Primary4-6 students and its ‘Healthy Relationships’ Module for secondary school students but these have yet to be systematically offered across the State, she said.

'Heartening news, but insufficient'

Welcoming the establishment of a One Stop Teenage Pregnancy Centre at Klinik Kesihatan Petra Jaya, she  said this is an  inter-agency collaborative efforts  set up to provide a support system for teenage mothers before and after birth.

“While this is heartening news, it is insufficient. There is a need to raise awareness earlier among youngsters on the importance of how to care for themselves and to respect each other as they begin to take an interest in the opposite sex,” Bedus said.

She explained that was the focus of reproductive health programmes as they encouraged students to value themselves and to think through how to form healthy, supportive relationships.

Discussing the contemporary pressures on them and helping them develop the skills to cope with such situations was part of the format, she added.

Bedus said that it should be noted that Malaysia currently has in place a policy and action plan for National Reproductive Health Education and Social Education (the Pekerti policy).

The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, through its agency, Lembaga Pendudukdan Pembangunan Keluarga Negara (LPPKN), runs Pekerti programmes, using modules produced by LPPKN and the Federation of Reproductive Health Associations, Malaysia.

Schools can invite LPPKN to conduct the programme. However, as this is dependent on invitations, its reach is limited, she said.

 

SWWS therefore wants the Ministry of Education to actively implement the national policy as it is in a strategic position to ensure concerted action, Bedus said.