Inmates must acquire skills, says minister

Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola says inmates must be equipped with skills that make them employable and enable them to create opportunities for themselves and their communities.

“No correctional centre should ever breed hardened criminals who, upon their release, terrorise communities with their newly acquired sophisticated and most brutal acts of criminality.

“Our centres should not be breeding grounds for criminals but rehabilitated inmates who can be boilermakers, plumbers, carpenters and farmers,” Lamola said.

Announcing the inmates’ 2020 matric results yesterday, Lamola said education was an effective rehabilitation tool.

He said the department had created a conducive environment for learning in all correctional centres.

“Education is a fundamental pillar of our correctional system.

“In our centres, education must always be structured and used to equip inmates to build social capital so as to improve their well-being while incarcerated and post-incarceration in order to realise a second chance in life.”

The minister said Covid-19 had introduced a new normal in daily routines and the department had adapted to this.

“One of the approaches we implemented and intensified was access to online tutoring and learning by inmates.

“Most of the inmates responded positively to this approach.

“The education of inmates faced various challenges when our country was placed under lockdown in March 2020.

“This disrupted our educational programmes,” Lamola said.

In preparation for the 2020 school year, the department ensured that each correctional centre school drew up a curriculum recovery plan to make up for the lost time.

“This also meant that inmates needed to complete the majority of related activities in their cells.

“What also assisted us were the educational programmes that the department of basic education broadcasted on television and radio stations, which inmates had access to.

“We are gearing our systems towards online education offerings as classroom teaching and learning continue to experience disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Relevant equipment and other tools are being procured in order for inmates to be able to access online digital content.

“These resources will be used by offenders to access curriculum content, as well as to view lessons on relevant platforms.”

For the 2020 academic year, full-time correctional service students achieved a pass rate of 86.3%.

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