Prison Education in Iceland

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Prison Education in Iceland

• The Spring Project
• Palladio /Treviso 2004

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Prison Education in Iceland

• Iceland 103 110 km2 Populationca. 295 000
• Prison situation
• 4 very small prisons 9 - 16 cells
• 1 bigger (high security) 87 cells located 60 km
  from Reykjavík
• Total average prison population pr. year
• 100 males
• 7 - 8 females

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Prison Education in Iceland

• Small prison units
• difficult to plan, arrange and carry out
  education, training and other school activities
• inmates at different age levels
• with different educational background
• with different lengths of sentences to serve
• various health and mental problems, etc.
• gt education on an individual basis for each
  inmate

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Prison Education in Iceland

• 2 prisons offer organised education
• Litla-Hraun - 70 inmates /males (high sec.)
• Kópavogur - 12 cells (females / males)
• Teachers coming from comprehensive schools in the
  neighbourhood, where they are employed.

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Prison Education in Iceland

• History of prison education
• Prison education in Iceland since "70
• Vocational training
• individual training for designated jobs
• elementary/secondary school lessons
• vocational training given by prison personal
• teachers for other studies coming from outside
• 1978 Sveinn Ágústsson hired as prison teacher

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Prison Education in Iceland

• In 1979 agreement between Ministry of Justice
  and Ministry of Education
• MoE pays teachers salaries
• MoJ pays other costs involved
• (No Ministry of Home affairs in Iceland!!)
• In 1981 a secondary comprehensive school was
  founded in Selfoss 12 km from L-H. Now
  responsible for education at the Litla-Hraun
  prison.

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Prison Education in Iceland

• In 1990 special classrooms built in the prison
  buildings at Litla-Hraun
• today most of the education and training takes
  place there
• Since January 2004 Angel (similar to WEB-CT or
  Blackboard in use at L-H
• enables the inmates to take certain courses as
  distance learning courses
• Since January 2004 Angel (similar to WEB-CT or
  Blackboard in use at L-H
• enables the inmates to take certain courses as
  distance learning courses

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Prison Education in Iceland

• Education at Kópavogur prison since 1997
• offered from comprehensive school in Kóp.
• History of legal framework
• Article 14 of the Prison Act No. 48/1988 states
  that the inmates have a right to education
• can also be permitted to attend school or
  vocational training outside the prison
• regular education attendance in prison replaces
  the work duties of inmates

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Prison Education in Iceland

• Regulation No. 409/1998 states that the inmates
  shall be paid (ca. 3.50 ) for each teaching
  lesson they attend
• Regulation No. 719/1995 which regulates prison
  leaves, including permission to attend classes
  outside the prison, states that an inmate must
  have served at least one year of his/her sentence
  to be eligible, and it further states that the
  length of the sentence until his/her release
  shall not exceed 6 months

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Prison Education in Iceland

• Statistics 2001
• average prison population at Litla-Hraun prison
  was 70 inmates, including prisoners in remand
  custody. In the spring semester of that year, 26
  inmates started studying and 12 of these
  completed their studies in one or more subjects
• fall semester, 36 inmates started in the
  education program and 16 of these completed their
  studies with an examination in one or more
  subjects

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Prison Education in Iceland

• Generally speaking about 35-40 of the inmates
  start with one or more subjects and approximately
  20 complete their studies in a satisfactory
  manner
• The main reason for the drop-out rate is the
  inmates own dicision to give up the studies. A
  small number is expelled for disciplinary
  violations

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Prison Education in Iceland

• When the situation arises where an inmate is
  released before the end of the school year, the
  education co-ordinator makes the necessary
  arrangements for the inmates concerned to finish
  their studies and to take examinations in the
  subject they had been studying
• Opportunity to take the examination at the school
  outside the prison

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Prison Education in Iceland

• The average number of prisoners at the Kópavogur
  prison during 2001 was 10 inmates
• Two to six inmates attended class daily, and
  during the year six inmates completed one or more
  examinations

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Prison Education in Iceland

• Thanks for your attention!
• (For further questions ingis_at_fsu.is)