Low levels in educational prison systems of England

The educational system in England’s prisons had unacceptable standards according to the inspectors and watchdogs. They say that is completely unacceptable that the education programs had poor grades during the last four years.  This situation is so critical that the prison’s inspector threaten with a national strike if the conditions do not change.

Mathew Coffey, national director of the education division in prisons of England, says that the cost of keeping a prisoner in jail it’s the same of an enrollment in a prestigious school, around £34,000. The thing that Coffey doesn't understand is that if is the common interest the resettlement of the prisoners, how the people in charge of this doesn't worry about the low levels of standards in education and practicing, one of the most important factor of rehabilitation.

There are some examples of prisons working in these aspects, but they were rare. Actually, only one prison of three was judged with good qualification.

This lack of interest could be seen in the fact that prisoners go out without employability skills, and that cause the reoffending, because they couldn't find a job and the easier thing it’s to get back to their old habits. The inability to find a job is one of the most important cause of recidivism in the England society but also could be a good factor to reduce the danger of reoffending by between 30% and 50%.

The principal problem is that “half of men and nearly three-quarters of women in jails in England and Wales have no qualifications at all, and about half of inmates have literacy skills below those of most 11-year-old” and apparently nobody wants to do something about it. In the sentences never appears the order of complete educational levels during the imprisonment.

Coffey added that the focus of prison policies must be improved the prisoners vocational and employability skills. With that in mind, it might be possible to reduce the recidivism level, currently 50% for adults and 72% for young people. 

More information: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/10/prison-education-standards-ofsted