Values underpinning sex education from an Islamic perspective :implication on the sex education in Malaysian curriculum

Abstract

The need for the implementation of an Islamic value-based sex education curriculum in schools has become a major concern among educators in Malaysia. Thus, this study examines values underpinning sex education from an Islamic perspective and its implications for the sex education curriculum in Malaysian schools. It discusses the concept of holistic education as the framework of the study and the status of the sex education curriculum in this framework. The development and practice of sex education in Malaysia is examined. The study examines the concept of values from an Islamic perspective. Its argumentations show that values for inculcation in the sex education curriculum could be derived from the five essentials (al-daruriyyal al-khamsah) of the Islamic law. The study also examines and analyses the values underpinning the Malaysian sex education curriculum. The major purpose of the study is to construct an Islamic valuebased model for sex education curriculum (IVBSEC) which is also used to examine values underpinning the Malaysian sex education curriculum. The study ends with a discussion on the implications of the study on the Malaysian curriculum. The study employed philosophical, analytical and historical methods, curriculum criticism and text analysis. It employed the quantitative method for analyzing frequencies and percentages of topics related to sex education from the textbooks used in Malaysian secondary schools. The study was able to demonstrate conceptually that values in the sex education curriculum should be seen from the holistic approach and ought to be based on religious foundations. The study was able to show that IVBSEC could be drawn from the five essentials (aldarihiyyat al-khamsuh) of Islamic law which are: the preservation of religion, self. intellect, progeny and property. It was found that the Malaysian sex education curriculum lacked certain religious sub-values. The least highlighted of the sub-values was that derived from the preservation of religion, namely the greatness of the Creator and integration with revealed knowledge, and the sub-value derived from the preservation of property, that is. amanah or trustworthiness. The study suggests the religious foundation must be given priority in designing the sex education curriculum. The IVBSEC, as proposed by the researcher, could be considered as an alternative approach to the existing value-based sex education curriculum in Malavsia.