"Rehabilitation through
education
Following their release, many offenders face significant
barriers to entering the workforce.
Recent research
suggests that
nearly half
(47%) of prisoners have no formal qualifications, compared
to 15% among similar age groups in the general population.
Only
14% of Australian
prisoners
have completed year 12, compared to 63% of the general
population. These figures are even more dire for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander prisoners.
As of 2014, there
were
33,791 prisoners in
Australia
and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders represent 27% of
the full-time adult prison population. This is a grim
statistic given they make up approximately
2.5%
of the general population.
Perhaps most
alarming is that
56%
of prisoners will re-offend.
A 2008 study in
the US estimated that
one in every 100
adults is
behind bars and more than 40% will return to prison
following their release. Rates of recidivism are as high as
60% in the UK.
But for prisoners
undertaking post-secondary education programs, rates of
recidivism are considerably lower. In
Norway,
where internet access is permitted in inmates’ cells,
recidivism rates are as low as 20%. In New Zealand,
educational programs are helping to
reduce recidivism
by anywhere between 8% and 11%.
However, higher education institutions are moving almost
exclusively to online delivery of courses and few
universities will offer an education to incarcerated
students because it is
difficult and time-consuming.
This raises serious issues
in Australia, as in most parts of the world, where most
jurisdictions do not permit inmates to access the internet.
As a result, we are faced with a situation in which
prisoners could miss out entirely on the chance to study.
Although
traditional forms of educational delivery using
hard-copy materials have been largely successful,
they do not allow
incarcerated students to develop the digital literacy skills
required to function in today’s society.
Education initiatives
Every day, thousands of inmates are released into the
outside world —a hyper-connected, digital society that may
be unrecognisable. Many will not have the digital skills
they need to secure employment following their release from
prison. This increases the likelihood that they will
re-offend.
A number of initiatives are underway that aim to equip
prisoners with skills they will need to make them attractive
to future employers.
In the UK, the Open University is providing courses via
the
Virtual Campus, a secure network accessible by most
prisons, with the aim of providing a whole higher education
curriculum for prisoners.
Closer to home, the
Tasmanian Prison Service developed a secure network
to give incarcerated students access to Moodle - the
learning management system used by some institutions.
At the
Alexander Maconochie Centre in the ACT, computers
are available in educational centres and in most cells
prisoners are allowed to access approved websites containing
educational materials and legal resources. This is the only
prison in Australia that permits direct access to the
internet.
The
University of Southern Queensland is trialing the
use of e-learning technologies (tablet computers and a
version of the learning management system) that are
independent of the internet but still enable students to
access courses electronically.
The aim is to give incarcerated students a comparable
learning experience to non-incarcerated students and
facilitate the development of digital skills that will
enhance their employability. The trial is being rolled out
across Australia in 2016."