/en/file/prison-educationPrison Education

He who opens a school door, closes a prison.

Victor Hugo

As of 2012, there were about 643 000 prisoners in the European Union and the prison population has slowly been increasing since. Most of these people have no higher, vocational or other advanced education and have low basic skills. Education in prisons plays an essential role in promoting rehabilitation and making prisoners less likely to reoffend.

Prisoner education is an important topic for EPALE, which is why 25–29 January is EPALE Prison Education week! Keep an eye on EPALE and our Facebook and Twitter pages for interesting resources and articles written by experts in the field.

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From 26 to 28 January our experts are holding a special three-day written discussion on prison education. Click here to join the discussion (in English) and share your thoughts on the questions raised! The discussion will be moderated by Dr Joe Giordmaina, an expert in prison education from the University of Malta. To  join Joe and take part in the discussion, log in or register on EPALE.

Prison education has been a popular topic across the EPALE community, and we have lots of thought-provoking articles, whether you're new to the topic or an expert in the field. Check out our thematic coordinator Ian Atkinson’s article on how prison education can support rehabilitation. Also, click here to read our case study on the CLAP project (Convicts Literary Aid Project).

If you haven’t already, take a look at this overview of prison education and training in Europe, written by Alexia Samuel – an expert for EPALE France (EN, FR). And Annet Bakker, Chair of the European Prison Education Association (and a teacher with 25 years' experience) makes the case for looking beyond certificates for validation of prisoner education (DE, EN, ES, FR, IT, NL PL).

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Credit: Robert Sturman

Don’t miss out our interview with Alan Smith – former coordinator of the Grundtvig programme for adult learning at the Commission. Finally, yoga instructor James Fox told EPALE how he converted prisoners in some of America's most challenging jails to the benefits of yoga - and how he's rolled out the project to prisons in Europe (DE, EN, ES, FR, IT, NL PL).

Still not enough? Take a look at some of our other blog posts and resources on the topic:

Blog posts

• The right competencies to improve prison education (EN)

• Generating learning contexts in prison - do we need European standardisation? (EN, PL)

• New approaches to maths in prison (EN)

• Reading a sentence - literacy in prisons in England and Wales (DE, EN, ES, FR, IT, PL)

• A blog about a prison education seminar organised by EPALE Italy in Naples (IT)

• From the art of reading to the art of being (IT)

• Basic skills training in Norwegian prisons (EN)

• The freedom of learning in law enforcement (EN)

Resources

• Gangs in Europe - a first introduction to the urban landscape of EUGANGS (summative research report, EN)

• Profile of Adult Learning Professionals in Correctional Criminal Justice System (research report, EN)

• Family Learning in Prisons – A Complete Guide (EN)

• Smart Rehabilitation: Learning how to get better outcomes (EN)

• Survey results: Officers’ Perception of Existing Educational Methodologies Used in Panevezys District Probation Service & Panevezys Correction House (EN, LT)

• Better cooperation within the prison system helps the inmates' education (article on Grundtvig partnership, SV)

• ‘Learning as a game-changer in prisoners’ lives’ (conference abstracts, IT)

• Monitoring report of adult education in Italy – report includes an in-depth focus on prison education (IT)

• Youth and Adult Education in Prisons. Experiences from Central Asia, South America, North Africa and Europe (EN, DE)

• Dialogue and cooperation process with the prison environment (e-book, SL)

• Teaching materials for prison education providers (DE)

• Checklist for conducting basic training courses in prisons (DE)

• Life stories. Second chance project. Grundtvig program 2013-2015 (EN, ET)

• Providing learning experience and supporting tools for those who wish to deliver effective prison education (EN)

• Evaluation shows positive experience from practice based training among inmates in Norwegian prison (EN)