THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Learning can help free the mind and give a person wings. Currently, around 500 jailbirds in the state are enjoying this freedom and proving that education and incarceration can go together in their journey of redemption.
Of the inmates undergoing education and skills training, most -- 474 to be exact -- are from the eight major prisons, according to data with the state prisons department. Of this, the four central prisons account for 364. Kannur central prison has the highest number of learners (154), followed by Tavanur (93), Poojappura (62), and Viyyur (55). Nettukaltheri open prison has 65 inmates taking courses, while 12 are being schooled at Cheemeni open prison. The high-security prison at Viyyur has 25 such inmates, while the women’s prison in Thiruvananthapuram has eight. The rest are in smaller jails.
In the last four years, 16 inmates have successfully completed their graduation/post-graduation. Prison sources say inmates getting higher education mostly prefer sociology, mathematics, political science, commerce, and social work as their subjects. Among the vocational courses, fitter, gardening, wiring, graphic designing, etc, courses have the most takers. Technical courses are conducted with the help of industrial training institutes (ITIs).
The basic literacy courses are conducted by the State Literacy Mission, while graduation and PG courses are offered by various universities, including Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) and Kerala University’s School of Distance Education. “We are focused on educating prisoners as it helps them in the reformation process and equips them to live a better life after their jail terms,” said prisons department director general Balram Kumar Upadhyay. “We reach out to trainers, who are willing to provide coaching to inmates. We also encourage prisoners to enrol for courses,” he added.
