Online Reporter
Arron Nyamayaro
SEVENTY seven inmates are sitting for their O-Level and A-Level examinations at prisons dotted across the country.
Chipinge Prison has 24 students who are sitting for those exams. Connemara Open Institution has two students.Whawha Young Offenders Prison has 30 adult students.Seventeen students also sat for Grade 7 examinations at the institution.
A team from the Zimbabwe Independent Complaints Commission (ZICC) visited Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison yesterday.
The team was told that adults serving jail sentences can complete their primary education, from Grade 1 to 7, in just one year.
The ZICC team, led by Commissioner General of Prisons Dr Moses Chihobvu, who was accompanied by five other Commissioners, hailed the correctional approach adopted by the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service. This initiative allows inmates to pursue their education while serving their sentences, with access to laptops and information technology.Retired Justice Webster Chinamhora, the ZICC chairperson, said:
“We have learnt a lot from this tour. Many inmates serving longer sentences highlighted the shift from punitive measures to a more rehabilitative focus.” Despite these positive developments, significant challenges remain.
“The biggest issues at the moment include inadequate water supply, overcrowding and limited access to medication,” said Justice Chinamhora. During their visit to the Psychiatric Unit, the team learnt of the pressing issue of overpopulation, with 420 inmates currently housed there.
This visit not only shed light on the conditions within the prison system but also highlighted the critical role of education in the rehabilitation process.
It offers hope for a future where inmates can reintegrate into society as educated individuals.
Criminal activities indeed pay handsomely. There are so many children that failed to register for exams because their parents could not afford exam fees yet low lives in our prisons get freedom to sit for exams. One young man was complaining that his friend, a serial thief, went to prison and came back a qualified carpenter and is doing very well now while he is still a tout at the same rank they operated from with his theiving friend. Life is quite unfair. Isn’t it?