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Kudzai Chikiwa, Chronicle Reporter
JUVENILES in prisons face challenges in accessing identity particulars which affects them when writing public examinations, the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service (ZPCS) has said.
Government has set up learning facilities at juvenile prisons where young offenders attend school and sit public examinations.
In Zimbabwe, one has to produce identification particulars including a birth certificate or national identification card to be allowed to sit public examinations.
In an interview at the ZPCS stand at the 60th edition of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo on Thursday, the national spokesperson, Chief Correctional Officer Meya Khanyezi said most families of young offenders do not cooperate when asked to assist to obtain such documents.
“Some of these juveniles come without national identity particulars and when they reach 16 years we have challenges in accessing documents for them. Some don’t even have birth certificates,” she said.
Chief Correctional Officer Khanyezi said because of stigma, most families did not want to associate with the young convicts.
“The majority of these offenders have been convited of crimes such as rape and most of their vitims are relatives and as such family members are still bitter and therefore do not want to associate with them. This has far reaching implications to the child because no matter their crime, they remain citizens who have a right to obtain the important identity documents,” she said.
The ZPCS national spokesperson said failure to access documents and to write exams impacted negatively on the prisons’ rehabilitation programme.
“Our theme as ZPCS is promoting development through correction which means our thrust is to see this child accessing education so that upon release he can be a better person. It is against this background that we call upon families to cooperate with us and help children to access document to enable them to sit exams,” she said.
Chief Correctional Officer Khanyezi said ZPCS had partnered with organisations such as Childline to help young offenders with counselling as a way of rehabilitation.
“Some children are rejected such that one can spend two years without being visited which can cause trauma to the child. Rejection also lowers the speed of rehabilitation. We engaged Childline to at least bring healing to the child and give them hope and skills to utilise upon release,” she said.
ZPCS has one juvenile prison with a capacity of 450 inmates at Whawha near Gweru. — @tamary98.
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