Memorandum submitted by the Shannon Trust
1. There are, at any one time, at least
30,000 prisoners in the system who, for all practical purposes,
can't read. The Prison educational system struggles with this
problem but is not succeeding for a number of reasons:
(a) many of these prisoners will not admit
their ignorance and are allergic to teachers and classes.
(b) their attention span is very short—about
20 minutes.
(c) they require daily individual coaching.
Using paid teachers, this would cost too much.
As a result, most of these prisoners leave prison
as illiterate as they entered. Such numbers of illiterate criminals
must be a serious burden on society.
2. The Shannon Trust has developed a system
of overcoming the problem by using literate prisoners as Mentors,
teaching up to five mentees a day. The Trust provides each party
with a ToebyToe reading manual which is so structured that anyone
who can read can teach anyone who can't. It takes on average six
months for a prisoner to complete the course—and he can
then join in class work. It costs the Trust less than £50
per new reader, the taxpayer nothing.
3. The Trust needs the support of prison
staff because everything in prison has to be supervised. It did
not really get going until the Prison Officers Association decided
to sponsor it in February 2003. Since then, it has spread to over
eighty prisons in England and is about to be launched in Scotland
and Ireland.
4. It works better in some prisons. Success
depends on generating enthusiasm. The Trust's rules— daily,
short, one-to-one and ToebyToe—have to be adjusted for each
prison's circumstances but it works well wherever there is the
will, and in all kinds from high security to open, in women's
prisons and YOIs. Experiments are in hand to provide post custodial
continuity for prisoners and young offenders who do not complete
the course before release.
5. So far, the Trust's plan has produced
350 new readers and is currently teaching over a thousand. This
is way short of its aim to reach all 30,000. To do that, the Trust
will need far stronger support from the authorities. This is available
in Scotland and is hopefully coming in England but some political
interest would be of great value. We hope that the Plan will one
day become embedded and standard on every wing of every prison
so that, wherever a prisoner is sent, he/she can continue ToebyToe.
6. Currently the Trust meets all the costs,
relying on grants from Charitable Foundations. Everyone involved
works voluntarily and 75% of its funds goes on manuals. We are
convinced that the Plan works best when everyone is voluntary,
especially within the prisons. However, we recognise that, even
at £50 per new reader, 30,000 illiterates will constitute
a considerable burden on the charitable sector. If it does become
embedded, therefore, we would hope that the Government might pay
for the manuals, leaving the Trust to concentrate on the motivation.
7. We hope that the inquiry will find the
Plan a place in its report. If it is given the right support,
we believe that our system can break the cycle of failure that
starts when a child for whatever reason fails to take advantage
of school. When he/she realises the error, it is often too late
and so they make their way through life as best they can but often
criminally. Prison could offer them a chance to redeem themselves
but too often it comes in a form they can't accept. For such people,
the Shannon Trust is often the only game in town—but it
works.
June 2004
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