In prison, education can be the window that lets hope in. More and more prisons are offering not only academic and vocational studies, but also arts, music and theatre. In Spain, just 2% of the prison population gets this opportunity.
Having nothing to do can be the worst part of being in prison. At one jail in Madrid which houses 1,700 prisoners, less than a hundred of them have access to study programmes. That’s about average for Spain where only 2% of the prison population are in education.
Vaidotas Grusnius, a prisoner, explained: “Studying can open doors. I think that without an education, you’re just another worker, nobody cares about you. But with one you can get more in life and never come back to prison.”
The prisoners’ study progress is closely monitored. If they fall behind, they’re thrown off the programme.
It’s clear that education in prison can help cut re-offending. But increasing prisoners’ access to education requires more funding, and that’s a sore point these days…
Some prisons in South America have discovered that playing an instrument can reduce the likelihood of violence and facilitate reintegration. The network of prison orchestras in Venezuela was set up in 2007, and so far has given a musical education to more than a thousand prisoners.
Bolivia Bottom, the Director of Institutional Development, said: “There are disadvantaged people all over the world. Mostly, the disadvantage is financial but it is often also spiritual. When prisoners experience life in an orchestra they forget about themselves and see themselves as useful in society.”
Mercedes Ocanco, a prisoner, said: “This programme connects us to the outside world. The method we use here within the prison is intensive. It is like a university. Our studies are divided into several subjects; musical language, theory and reading; individual lessons and workshops and rehearsals.”
Bolivia Bottom, said: “When you play for someone else, you get recognition, appreciation for what you’re giving, which is very good for identity and self esteem.”
In Italy, the fortress of Volterra – now converted into a prison – provides the dramatic setting for the inmates to express their acting skills. Each year the prisoners prepare for a major theatre production that even goes on tour. Through performance, the prisoners experience a world beyond their confinement.
This high security prison in Italy holds 180 offenders serving sentences from 15 years to life. This is where theatre director Armando Punzo has chosen to work – not for humanitarian reasons, but because he was tired of working with professional actors. The company produces one show a year.
Armando Punzo, theatre director, said: “On the first day I realised that they understood and accepted the challenge of my proposal to form a real theatre company. For most of them it meant changing their lives forever.”
Aniello Arena, a prisoner, said: “I keep saying that, and it might sound soft but I really mean it. This experience changed my life. It changed me from inside; culture, art, the theatre… It made me look inside myself, it made me grow. Everything changed, my whole outlook on life. I am very conscious of this. And I like it so much that I really can’t imagine living without it. I am addicted. The simple thought that I could be excluded from next year’s show makes me feel sick. I think it would kill me, though in reality, I just mean I can’t live without it.”
International outrage is mounting over a massacre in Syria that has left more than 100 people dead, many of them children.
Under pressure, the Syrian government has blamed rebels for the killings, which happened in the town of Houla in Homs province on Friday.
UN military…
Two Rebel groups have agreed to merge and create an independent Islamic state in Northern…
It has been revealed that Iran is set to begin construction of a second nuclear power station…
Inspiring the teachers
