30 Facts About Prison education

1.

Prison education is any educational activity that occurs inside prison.

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2.

Prison education often aims to make the inmate more employable after release.

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3.

Studies consistently show that education in prison is an effective way of reducing the rates of recidivism, which saves the expense of future prison sentences.

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4.

Opponents argue that prison education is a waste of money and that prisoners are not deserving of the benefit.

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5.

Prison education became mandatory for inmates under 35 in 1842, and vocational education can be traced back to at least 1874, when the Uppsala County prison hired a carpenter to teach inmates woodworking.

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6.

The Prison Act of 1877 is considered to have established the prison system that remained in effect until the 1990s, which only offered education of a "narrow and selective kind".

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7.

The first major education program aimed at rehabilitating prisoners was launched in 1876.

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8.

However, Prison education programs did not become commonplace until the mid 1940s.

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9.

Resources for education are comparatively lacking due to rising incarceration rates and prison overcrowding, partly a by-product of the war on drugs.

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10.

In 1910, prison law in Japan ordered education be given to all juvenile inmates, and to any adult inmate deemed to have a need.

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11.

In India, reports showing the need for prison education were being made as early as the 19th century the country's prisons focused mostly on punitive measures.

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12.

Prison education is generally less well-established throughout Africa in comparison to the Western world.

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13.

The first prison in Nigeria was established in 1872 as of 2010, no formal education program had ever been implemented by the Nigerian government; in 1986, one prison launched organised educational programs though they were run and funded by inmates.

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14.

The provision of education was varied from prison to prison, though typically offered nothing better than informal apprenticeships in trades necessary to keep prisons operational.

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15.

Only inmates whose families could afford to pay for tuition fees were permitted to participate, and access to education improved and then regressed with the prison's ever changing policy; by the end of the 1960s, programs were restricted on the concern they were improving the inmates' morale too much.

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16.

Prison education'storians speculate the prison system was concerned that inmates were becoming better educated than the guards.

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17.

Basic literacy courses were provided by paid inmates, rather than qualified teachers, and higher levels of Prison education were only available to inmates who could afford correspondence courses.

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18.

For many years, the only prison education offered in Morocco was farming skills at the country's agricultural prisons, though a 2014 report found that educational opportunities had been increasing and that literacy, vocational and other educational programs were being offered.

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19.

Primary, secondary and vocational Prison education is typically free, though some countries require inmates or their families to pay for correspondence courses.

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20.

Prison education programs have been considered to be a "delicate balancing act" between enough cooperation with the criminal justice system and genuine efforts to offer meaningful learning experiences.

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21.

Distance Prison education courses are increasingly only being offered online, which presents a significant barrier as most countries do not permit inmates to access the internet.

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22.

One of the biggest barriers to prison education is the frequent transfer of prisoners between correctional facilities.

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23.

Prison education programs are intended to reduce recidivism by increasing an inmate's ability to secure employment.

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24.

Studies on prison education have a reputation for measuring effectiveness against rates of recidivism alone, and do not take into consideration any other factors such as the experience from the perspective of either students or teachers.

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25.

Effects of prison education courses have been found to be cumulative; studies show the more classes an individual takes while in prison, the less likely they will be to re-offend.

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26.

The 2013 RAND Corporation study estimated that every dollar spent on Prison education saves taxpayers $4 to $5, and that to break even on the cost of Prison education programs, recidivism must be reduced by between 1.

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27.

The survey found that general education was offered to adult inmates in all prisons in 15 countries, in the majority of prisons in six countries and in less than half of prisons in 10 countries.

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28.

Prison education is considered to be exceptionally good in Norway; by law all inmates must have access to educational courses.

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29.

The lack of support for prison education has been linked to sensationalist reporting on crime, including a disproportionate emphasis on violent offences, perpetuating public fear.

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30.

Arguments made against prison education include that inmates do not deserve the right to be educated, doing so is being "soft on crime", and that it is a waste of taxpayers' money.

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