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Cuts to educational initiatives within prisons are hindering prisoners' work and training opportunities, eventually posing a risk to public safety, per a recent report from a correctional oversight organization.

Cycle of Reoffending Linked to Lack of Education

Repeat criminals often cause chaos in their communities due to the failure of correctional facilities to provide adequate education and employment opportunities that could help break the cycle of reoffending, the report stated.

I hold serious worries about the effect of real-terms education budget cuts on currently insufficient services and about the absence of real desire and ambition for progress that this represents.”

Budget Cuts Endanger Rehabilitation Initiatives

In spite of commitments to improve access to education, spending on direct educational programs in prisons is being cut by up to 50%, according to recent reports.

Although the total education allocation has stayed the same, the cost of course contracts has increased significantly, as claimed by prison governors.

• Just 31% of former inmates are employed half a year after release
• Ninety-four of 104 closed facilities were rated “inadequate” or “not sufficiently good” for meaningful activity
• Average attendance in educational programs was just 67% in reviewed prisons

Inadequate Situations Impede Rehabilitation

Overcrowding, a shortage of training facilities, equipment breakdowns, and aging infrastructure have compounded the problem, according to the report.

Numerous inmates remain for weeks to be allocated an activity spot and are often given whatever is available, instead of training relevant to their career prospects upon leaving.

Even when activities went ahead, full-time positions generally occupied inmates for just a limited time per day, with many roles divided into part-time places to extend meagre provision further.

Government Position and Future Initiatives

Correctional system has a duty to protect the community by making prisoners less inclined to reoffend when they are freed, but too often it is falling short to fulfill this responsibility.

The best administrators understand that prisons, and ultimately our communities, are safer if prisoners are meaningfully occupied, and that education, skill development and employment play a vital role in motivating prisoners to reform.

It is understood that meaningful activity can help to enable safe and proper correctional facilities and have a positive effect on recidivism levels.”

Unless officials in the correctional system take the delivery of effective training and skill development more seriously, it is hard to see how extremely high reoffending levels can be lowered.

Funding cuts are also likely to impede initiatives to implement a new incentive-based correctional system that would enable prisoners to earn time off their sentence by completing employment, training and learning programs.