Introduction of Criminal Law as a Subject in National Secondary Schools

Abstract

National education in Malaysia is governed by the Education Act 1996 (EA 1996) (Act 550). At present, the subject of criminal law is not part of the Malaysian national secondary school curriculum. The lack of it has resulted in students being unable to get adequate and necessary exposure as well as understanding of the subject. It certainly does not coincide with the grim reality that crimes committed by school children are on the rise in Malaysia. This research is qualitative in nature, using a pure legal approach. This research adopted a content analysis method consisting of a detailed analysis of the Education Act 1996 (EA 1996) (Act 550), the Penal Code (Act 574) and the Child Act 2001 (CA 2001) (Act 611). In addition, this research also analyzed various journals and academic research in this area to discuss the importance of teaching criminal law as a subject in schools. The paper concludes that instead of introducing this subject at post-secondary education level, the subject should be considered to be taught earlier in secondary school. Early exposure to the criminal law subject would enable school children to be adequately informed on how the criminal justice system works and its relevant principles and values. This would in consequence create awareness and promote good values for students at a young age, namely the values of respect and adherence to the law which would help them to refrain from committing crimes.