Education prepares inmates for outside
"Education is the key to a brighter future, go back to school," is the opinion of the minister for correctional services, Sibusiso Ndebele.
POLOKWANE – “Education is the key to a brighter future, go back to school,” is the opinion of the minister for correctional services, Sibusiso Ndebele.
Last year, the minister announced that, as of April 1, it would be compulsory for every inmate without a qualification equivalent to gr. 9 to complete Adult Education and Training (AET) programmes. In response to the minister’s instruction, the Polokwane correctional centre has made AET compulsory to young people aged between 19 and 25 years.
AET offers inmates, who were already sentenced, a formal education qualification equivalent to gr. 9.
The programme includes the following subjects: English, life orientation, mathematical literacy, social sciences, travel and tourism, Sepedi, small, medium and micro enterprises, economic management and ancillary health care.
After completing AET, inmates are given the opportunity to further their education through the further education and training (FET) mainstream programme, obtaining qualifications for gr. 10, 11 and 12.
They will also be able to move on to the FET college level to follow the career paths of their choice.
At the Polokwane correctional centre there are about 1 200 inmates, of which 556 are already sentenced and qualify for AET.
There are currently 188 registered for AET and 40 registered for the FET college level. The rest of the 556 inmates are either beyond AET or above the age category which makes education compulsory.
Polokwane area commissioner, Kenneth Mthombeni, says it is important that the inmates receive support from their loved ones during the course of their rehabilitation.
“Encourage your loved ones to participate in these educational opportunities, it really helps with their rehabilitation and to bring change in their behaviour. The programmes will educate them and will ensure they have skills that they can use once they leave the centre,” Mthombeni explains.
Leana Bester, female inmate at Polokwane correctional centre, says when she came to the centre she only had gr. 7.
“AET has changed my life for the better. My English was very bad. I can now read and write in English and I speak the language fluently. I was horrible in maths, but now I can do maths very well. My general knowledge has improved and I am excited about learning,” Bester says. Erick Khubayi, a male inmate says he was not well educated when he entered the centre.
“I finished AET and now I am doing my first year in electrical engineering. When I came to the centre, I could not read, write or speak English, but look at me now.
“I can truly say when I leave the centre, I will be skilled and educated and a better person,” he says.
The minister says the hand that was used to harm others must be changed into a hand that now builds and heals.
“The department of correctional services is implementing programmes aimed at turning around the lives of those who wronged society so that upon release, they are ideal, productive, law-abiding citizens,” he says.
