Michael Gove has taken the first steps in his plans to introduce an “earned release” scheme for prisoners in England and Wales by announcing a major review of education provisions in jails.
Gove, the justice secretary, has asked Sally Coates, a director of a group of 16 academy schools and seven independent schools, to carry out the review into how the quality and methods of prison teaching can be improved, including in classrooms and workshops.
The Coates review is to report by spring 2016 and is seen as a preliminary step towards Gove’s plans to introduce a scheme of earned release, which links educational achievement to the date inmates are released from prison.
In his first major speech on prison policy in July, the justice secretary said prisoners lacked the right incentives to learn and there was little pressure on staff to prioritise education.
“I am attracted to the idea of earned release for those offenders who make a commitment to serious educational activity, who show by their changed attitude that they wish to contribute to society and who work hard to acquire proper qualifications, which are externally validated and respected by employers,” he told the Prisoners’ Learning Alliance.
Gove said in a Commons written statement published on Tuesday that one of the most important things he could do as justice secretary was make sure prisoners got the numeracy and literacy skills they needed to make them employable.
“We must have the right incentives for prisoners to learn and for prison staff to make sure that education is properly prioritised. I want to see prisoners motivated to engage in their own learning and governors with the right tools to be more demanding and creative about the education provided in the prisons they run.”
Coates recently carried out a review of teaching standards for the Department for Education and her recommended diet of punctuality, respect and constant exams has been credited with turning around Burlington Danes academy in White City in west London, which lies in the shadow of Wormwood Scrubs prison.
Juliet Lyon of the Prison Reform Trust welcomed the review and pointed out that nearly half of prisoners report having no qualifications and 42% of people in prison say they had been expelled or permanently excluded from school.
“Providing people with the knowledge and skills to help them lead a law-abiding life on release should be a central aim of a modern and effective penal system. It is troubling to note that, in his last report, the chief inspector of prisons found the worst results for work, training and education in 10 years,” said Lyon.
