Written evidence from the University and
College Union, Northern Ireland
PRISON EDUCATION
AND TRAINING
IN NORTHERN
IRELAND—A UCU COMMENT
The University and College Union welcomes the
decision of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee to invite comments
on its review of the Prison Service in Northern Ireland. UCU considers
it timely to hold such a review as society in Northern Ireland
progresses to a post-conflict situation, with all major parties
committed to the restoration of a local Assembly and Executive
with local Ministers responsible for taking forward government
policy.
UCU has a particular interest in education and
training services for the prison population. We are conscious
of the significant role played by the Open University in offering
opportunities at degree and post-graduate level to many prisoners
throughout the years of the "Troubles"—particularly
those who considered themselves to be politically motivated. The
contribution of the OU changed the lives of many such prisoners
in assisting them to obtain third level academic qualifications
and in preparing them for constructive citizenship upon their
release.
There is a substantial body of evidence that
the most of the prison population tends to come from socio-economic
backgrounds with low levels of literacy and numeracy and where
education and educational attainment are given a low priority.
In that context a great obligation rests upon society to ensure
that education and training opportunities are available to offenders
to enable them to access learning and skills which can assist
them to cope with life's challenges without feeling the need to
re-offend and to rehabilitate them within our communities. There
is certainly evidence from the new Offender Learning and Skills
Service rollout in England that this approach helps reduce reoffending.
To that end UCU believes that prison education in Northern Ireland
needs significant reform.
We would argue that support from the OU and
University of Ulster should not only be retained but extended.
Not all offenders however are motivated to undertake study at
degree level. For many a real achievement would be to achieve
basic literacy and numeracy skills or to reach NVQ level 2 in
a craft skill.
Opportunity should also exist for those who
wish to progress to level 3 qualifications or to undertake personal
development and study to modern apprentice level (and beyond)
for both males and females. Such opportunities being available
to serving prisoners would not only enhance their quality of life
whilst in jail but would also prepare them for employment or other
career opportunities upon release.
Access to such opportunities is limited under
current arrangements in Northern Ireland. The curriculum menu
available under Northern Ireland Office provisions is limited
and insular. Apart for one small and isolated example involving
Limavady College of further education—there is little contact
between the prison population and mainstream further education.
The largest prison for example exists in the hinterland of three
sizable FE colleges, Lisburn, Upper Bann and the Belfast Institute
yet there appears to be no interaction between the prison service
and those institutions. The same applies to young offenders centres—again
there is little engagement with mainstream providers.
Those larger further education providers offer
access to a wide range of courses ranging across all levels of
qualifications and where tutors are appropriately qualified and
subject to quality assurance standards. Whilst acknowledging the
positive work under-taken by prison educators, this in-house provision
is confined to a limited number of subject areas and offers little
scope for diversification or progression for those prisoners who
would strive to move forward.
UCU believes it is time for prison education
in Northern Ireland to move from control of the Northern Ireland
Office and for it to be managed and integrated within the Department
of Employment and Learning with formalised links to the further
education sector. That is the approach elsewhere in the UK.
Whilst not underestimating the reaction such
a decision might provoke amongst some sections of the FE sector—and
the significant implications such a relationship would have for
many of the FE sector's serving teachers—in the longer term
such a development would enhance the range and level of provision
available to the prison population. It will also maintain for
those offenders, a contact with society which demonstrates to
them that social inclusion is possible upon release and that skills
and qualifications can lead to a richer and more secure quality
of life.
University and College Union, Northern Ireland
April 2007
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