Jim Higgins
Ceist:80 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Justice if records are kept of the educational levels and attainments of prisoners; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Educational Levels of Prisoners.
Participation by prisoners in education is voluntary and quite a large number of prisoners do not participate. Consequently, information in relation to the overall education levels and attainments of prisoners is not available.
Education in prison is provided principally by the Vocational Education Committees with other education agencies such as the Open University, the University of Limerick and regional technical colleges also participating. The courses provided range from basic literacy and numeracy to third level education. At present the Department of Education provides 130 full-time teacher equivalents to work in prisoners and places of detention and prisoners who wish to participate in an education are accommodated irrespective of their ability or attainments.
The methods appropriate to education in prison relate far more closely to the approaches of adult or community education than to traditional school-based education. Because of this approach, whereby the education is geared to meet the specific needs and interests of the prisoner, and because of the fact that the majority of prisoners are in prison for short periods, conventional "performance indicators" of attainment are not appropriate.
However, prison education programmes are carefully monitored by senior prison educators and by the Co-ordinator of Education, employed by the Department of Justice, to ensure that they meet the needs of prisoners satisfactorily.