The Education Ministry today said that elements of sex education are already in the preschool curriculum.

Education director-general Khair Mohamad Yusof was responding to Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching who urged for sex education to be taught in preschools immediately following the latest disclosure of sexual abuse figures.

Although it is not termed as "sex education" the necessary elements are indeed taught under health education, said Khair.

“There are elements in relation to taking care of sexual health and reproduction under health education for preschools," he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Preschoolers, he added, were taught on how to report when someone did something inappropriate to them.

In a statement yesterday, Teo said sex could not be treated as a taboo subject in order to protect children.

Citing how it had been implemented in many developed countries, Teo said Malaysia had a need to follow suit to prevent more tragedies such as those concerning Richard Huckle.

Huckle is a British national who had been sentenced to 23 life sentences by a UK court to be served concurrently, after pleading guilty to 71 counts of child sexual abuse.

He was believed to have abused up to 200 children, mainly from poor communities in Kuala Lumpur.

Teo had also pointed to reports quoting a Malacca Hospital gynaecologist saying that the hospital saw at least three cases of child sexual abuse each week, and the number rose during school holidays and festive seasons.