🔗 Share this article Education Reductions in Prisons Put at Risk Public Safety, Oversight Body Warns Cuts to educational offerings within prisons are hindering prisoners' employment and skill development options, in the long run posing a risk to community safety, per a new report from a prison oversight agency. Cycle of Reoffending Linked to Lack of Education Repeat criminals often create disorder in their communities due to the inability of correctional facilities to provide sufficient education and employment programs that could help break the pattern of criminal behavior, the findings noted. “I have serious concerns about the effect of real-terms education budget reductions on currently inadequate provision and about the absence of genuine appetite and ambition for progress that this represents.” Funding Cuts Threaten Reform Efforts In spite of commitments to improve access to learning, spending on direct learning services in correctional institutions is being cut by as much as 50%, per recent reports. While the total training budget has stayed the same, the expense of program agreements has soared, as claimed by prison administrators. Only 31% of ex- inmates are employed six months after release 94 of 104 inspected facilities were rated “poor” or “not sufficiently good” for meaningful engagement Average attendance in educational programs was just 67% in reviewed institutions Inadequate Conditions Hinder Rehabilitation Overcrowding, a shortage of training facilities, equipment failures, and ageing facilities have worsened the problem, according to the report. Many inmates wait for extended periods to be allocated an activity spot and are often given any is available, instead of training applicable to their employment prospects upon release. Although work proceeded, full-day positions generally engaged prisoners for just five hours per day, with many positions divided into part-time places to stretch limited provision further. Government Response and Upcoming Initiatives The prison system has a responsibility to protect the public by making prisoners less likely to commit crimes again when they are freed, but frequently it is falling short to meet this responsibility. The best administrators know that jails, and ultimately our communities, are more secure if prisoners are purposefully engaged, and that education, training and work play a vital role in motivating inmates to turn their lives around. It is understood that meaningful activity can help to facilitate safe and decent prisons and have a transformative impact on recidivism levels.” Unless leaders in the correctional system take the provision of effective education and training more seriously, it is difficult to see how extremely high reoffending rates can be reduced. The spending reductions are also likely to impede initiatives to implement a new incentive-based prison regime that would allow inmates to earn reductions their sentence by completing employment, training and education courses.