Announcing this yesterday, Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim said the move will signal the community's resolve to tackle its divorce rates by curbing 'minor marriages'.

Such marriages - where the bride or groom is below the age of 21 - make up 30 per cent of Muslim divorces each year.

'Marriages involving minors are twice as likely to result in divorce during the first 10 years of marriage...probably because their young age and lower educational levels do not give them a stable start to married life,' he said.

He was responding to Dr Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade GRC), who asked for an update on the move to raise the age of Muslim marriages, an issue the Government began studying last year.

'We are targeting to raise the minimum age later this year, when the Administration of Muslim Law Act is amended,' he said.

Dr Yaacob also said the community has intensified efforts to help young couples and their parents make better and informed choices about marriage.

Two centres, called Inspirasi Hubs, were set up last year for this purpose.

Out of 443 young couples who attended pre-marital counselling sessions, one in three dropped their plans to get married early.

Official figures show that the number of teenage marriages is on the decline. It dipped from 590 in 2004 to 410 last year.

For young couples who decide to proceed with marriage, the Hubs formed Club Inspirasi to equip them with skills and knowledge to deal with marital challenges.

Since its launch last December, 83 couples have joined the club.

There are also TV programmes to educate the community on the need to keep marriages intact.

Such efforts have yielded results.

The number of Muslim divorces dropped by 11 per cent - from 1,944 in 2006 to 1,747 last year.

Divorces among those who got married before 21 are also on the decline. It went down from 630 in 2003 to 509 last year.