UK researchers and prison governors agree: Prison inmates should be allowed online

Allowing internet access for prison inmates would boost their learning and rehabilitation outcomes, argue researchers and advocates in the UK.  

”Internet access is a fundamental human right”, the UN resolved in July 2016. However, many prison inmates across Europe and the world are denied this right due to security concerns.

Inmates should be allowed online – for better learning

According to a recent article in Elm Magazine, researchers and prisoners’ rights advocates in the UK are now arguing for allowing more British inmates online in a secure environment. UK prison governors agree: a majority of governors would allow controlled internet access for their inmates, according to a study by the Prisoner’s Education Trust.

Half of inmates have primary school-level literacy skills

Controlled online access would mean improved learning and rehabilitation prospects for prisoners. According to UK government data, 46% of British prisoners had literacy skills equivalent of a primary school student. Both literacy and computer skills are crucial for future employability.

-ICT skills are the “third basic skill” along with literacy and numeracy and are important for employment and just living life, explains Nina Champion, Head of Policy at the Prisoner's Education Trust, interviewed by Ryan Scott in Elm Magazine.

Internet access is one of several recommendations by learning avocates and researchers in a bid to update the UK prison education system.

-Teacher-centred, school-style education is not effective in capturing learner interest in prison, Champion explains.

Rather, the inmates should be recognised as individuals and asked to be actively engaged in their own learning, experts argue.

Read the whole article in Elm Magazine: Learning prison -inmate education needs an update (Ryan Scott)

More information: Elm Magazine, Editor-in-chief Markus Palmén, [email protected]

Elm Magazine (European Lifelong Learning Magazine) is a free online media on lifelong learning and adult education. It is the only journalistic medium of adult education with a European scope and with a continent-wide correspondent network. Elm supports the work of the adult education professional by keeping its reader up-to-date on the trends, good practices and phenomena of the adult learning world.

Elm is published by the Finnish Lifelong Learning Foundation.