Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 February 2022
254. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice when an updated version of the Irish Prison Service and Education and Training Boards Prison Education Strategy will be published given that the current strategy is set to expire in 2022. [8879/22]
View answerI am advised by the Irish Prison Service that the Joint Irish Prison Service/Education and Training Boards Ireland Prison Education Strategy 2019 to 2022 is currently being implemented.
Strategic actions being progressed under this include: Supporting the Prison Education Service; Making effective use of digital systems for teaching and learning; Supporting the provision of broad based education; Supporting integration and sentence planning; Supporting the delivery of library services in prisons; Progressing Quality Assurance and reviews; and Ensuring compliance with legislation including GDPR and Health And Safety.
The aim of the Prison Education Service is to deliver a high quality, broad, flexible programme of education that helps people in custody cope with their sentence, achieve personal development, prepare for life after release, and establish capacity for life-long learning.
Following internal and external consultation with relevant stakeholders, it is intended that the new Joint Irish Prison Service/Education and Training Boards Ireland Prison Education Strategy will be developed and implemented from 2023.
Central to the new Strategy will be building on the lessons learned over the past two years of the Covid-19 pandemic and building on the new modalities of learning that have been introduced, including a move away from classroom only learning and adopting a blended approach to the delivery of education.
