Some 100 inmates at the various prison facilities across the country have started to undergo Information Technology (IT) training.
The Welfare and Corrections Department of the Guyana Prisons Service said this move is in keeping with their mandate to rehabilitate inmates. IT programmes have been launched at the Timehri Prison in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Mazaruni Prison in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), and at the New Amsterdam Prison in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
The GPS is aiming to have IT programmes introduced at all the prison locations across the country by the end of April.
According to the Prison Service, this initiative is made possible through the donations received from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Ministry of Legal Affairs. With that support, all prison locations are being afforded computer labs.
Mazaruni prison
Director of Prisons, Niklon Elliot in his comments stated that the initiative comes at a time when technology is becoming more valuable to society. He said the labs will allow inmates to access online training programmes, videos and foreign language programmes.
Meanwhile, Officer in Charge of Prisoners’ Welfare and Corrections, Marielle Bristol-Grant remarked that the inmates welcomed the initiative. In fact, she noted that there is already a wait list of interested inmates to benefit from the computer classes.
Bristol-Grant also stated that this opportunity will allow inmates to function in a technological society upon their release from prison.
The IT programme is three months long and inmates are expected to be computer literate upon their completion.
Currently, approximately 100 inmates from the three prison facilities are benefiting from the IT programme. These include 20 inmates at the Timehri Prison, 50 inmates at the Mazaruni Prison and 30 female inmates at the New Amsterdam Prison.
Only last month, the GPS received ICT equipment to the tune of $30 million under the IDB-funded Support for the Criminal Justice System Programme (SCJS).
A total of 100 desktop computers, 10 laptops, four Wi-Fi routers, four LaserJet printers, and five projectors with screens were handed over to the Prison Service with the aim of educating the prisoners, creating and nurturing an environment conducive to rehabilitation and upliftment so that these persons are better equipped to be reintegrated into society upon their release.
The Support for the Criminal Justice System Programme enabled the Ministry of Legal Affairs to draft the Restorative Justice Bill, as well as put systems in place for the development of standards, guidelines, and rules of procedure for the implementation of restorative justice in Guyana. (G8)
