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Decreases to educational programs within correctional institutions are impeding inmates' employment and training opportunities, ultimately posing a risk to community safety, per a new report from a correctional watchdog organization.

Cycle of Repeat Crimes Linked to Lack of Education

Habitual criminals often create mayhem in their communities due to the inability of prisons to offer sufficient training and employment opportunities that could help break the pattern of criminal behavior, the analysis stated.

I hold significant concerns about the effect of real-terms education budget reductions on already insufficient services and about the absence of real desire and ambition for improvement that this represents.”

Budget Reductions Threaten Rehabilitation Efforts

Despite promises to improve availability to learning, funding on direct educational services in prisons is being reduced by up to 50%, according to recent reports.

Although the overall education allocation has remained the same, the cost of course contracts has increased significantly, as claimed by correctional governors.

• Only 31% of ex- prisoners are employed half a year after leaving prison
• 94 of 104 inspected facilities were rated “poor” or “below standard” for meaningful engagement
• Typical attendance in educational programs was just 67% in reviewed institutions

Inadequate Conditions Impede Rehabilitation

Crowded conditions, a lack of workshop facilities, equipment failures, and aging infrastructure have worsened the problem, according to the report.

Numerous inmates remain for weeks to be assigned an training spot and are often assigned any is open, rather than instruction applicable to their career prospects upon leaving.

Although activities proceeded, full-time jobs generally engaged inmates for just a limited time per day, with numerous roles divided into partial places to extend limited resources further.

Official Response and Upcoming Initiatives

The prison system has a responsibility to safeguard the public by making inmates less inclined to commit crimes again when they are freed, but too often it is falling short to fulfill this responsibility.

Top governors know that jails, and ultimately our society, are more secure if inmates are purposefully occupied, and that education, skill development and employment play a vital role in motivating inmates to turn their lives around.

“We know that meaningful activity can help to facilitate safe and proper prisons and have a positive impact on reoffending levels.”

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

The spending cuts are also expected to impede efforts to implement a new incentive-based prison regime that would enable prisoners to earn time off their incarceration by completing work, training and learning programs.