JOHOR GOVT PROPOSES MANDATING STUDENTS 16 AND ABOVE JOIN VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS

ISKANDAR PUTERI, Dec 1 (Bernama) -- The Johor government proposes to mandate students aged 16 and above in the state to join voluntary associations or organisations, such as District Youth Councils or Southern Volunteers (SV).

State Youth, Sports, Entrepreneur Development, and Cooperatives Committee chairman, Mohd Hairi Mad Shah, stated that this initiative aims to provide early exposure to students.

“I propose a transformative approach be studied where students aged 16 and above in Johor are required to join voluntary associations or organisations, such as District Youth Councils or SV Muda, based on their preferences.

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“This exposure will enable youths to confidently engage with organisations registered under the Registrar of Societies and the Registrar of Youth Societies in the future,” he said in response to a question from Ee Chin Li (PH-Tangkak) about Johor’s intention to establish youth clubs in schools, during the Johor assembly sitting at Kota Iskandar today.

He said the state government has no intention of establishing youth clubs in schools across the state through the Johor Youth and Sports Department.

He explained that this decision respects the existing Co-curriculum Implementation Policy and the Education Act 1961 under the Ministry of Education.

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"The state government has opted not to establish youth clubs in schools as it would add to teachers' existing workload and also takes into account Malaysia’s current teaching staff shortage. 

"For the record,  based on the latest data from the Department of Statistics, Johor has nearly two million youths, making up half of the state’s population of 4.1 million.

"And the number of registered youth associations or organisations in the state currently stands at 1,123," he said.

-- BERNAMA