KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — Starting this year, schoolchildren will be adding another module on the dangers of the Islamic State (IS) global terror group on top of learning their regular subjects.

A new collaboration initiative between the Education Ministry and the police will see the introduction of a series of briefings for students to teach them about the terrorism threat that is being dealt with by the government, New Sunday Times reported Deputy Education Minister II Senator Chong Sin Woon as saying today.

“The Education Ministry is prepared to cooperate with the police to conduct briefings at schools to create awareness among students on the dangers of Islamic State terrorists,” Chong was quoted as saying after a visit to several schools in Muar, Johor.

According to the newspaper, this is the first collaborative effort on raising militancy awareness between the Education Ministry and the police.

The report did not detail who will be instructing the children in the briefings or how classes will be conducted.

Sympathy for religious militancy has risen dramatically from among Malaysians in recent years, particularly among the younger demographic group, including teenagers, who express solidarity for the ideology of hard-line groups like IS on their social media channels.

Some have also left the country for Syria and its surrounding areas to fight for the IS and other terrorist outfits, like the Al-Qaeda.

A study by US-based think tank Pew Research Center last year found 11 per cent of Malaysians to be sympathetic to the IS cause, compared to 4 per cent Indonesians who make up the world’s biggest Muslim population.

Putrajaya has since 2012 enacted the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act or SOSMA, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and passed last year the controversial National Security Council Bill, ostensibly as part of its strategy to combat the spread such militant ideology.