A Review on Marriage Education in Malaysian Higher Education Curriculum

Abstract

Marriage is one of the religious requirements in Islam that purposes to fulfill one’s needs and ensure human generation’s continuity. A marriage built with strong foundation is the main footing of producing a family of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual qualities. The formation and development of a family institution becomes the social agent to the success of a civilisation. In Malaysia particularly, the phenomenon of the breakdown of family institution is getting more alarming. Statistics issued by the Department of Islamic Development in Malaysia (JAKIM) on the divorce rate among Malaysians from 1995 to 2006 show constant increase from year to year. Most of the divorce cases involve couples of young adults. Also, a report done in 2007 suggested that 59.9 percent of the divorces involve marriages aged less than 10 years old. Hence, this research is done to observe and scrutinise the role of higher education system in Malaysia in providing knowledge and creating awareness on the values of marriage and family institution. 20 public universities in Malaysia are included to take part in this research. Structure of academic programs is analysed based on the progress of Mata Pelajaran Umum (General Studies Modules) or MPU as well as elective modules offered in these universities. The findings obtained will manifest the participation of these public universities in the government’s mission of minimizing the divorce rates among young couples, and subsequently inhibiting the breakdown of family institution that might contribute to crimes and other negative issues in the long run.