Long distance education in the offing for Nsawam Prison inmates

Nsawam Prison inmates, who qualify for tertiary education but are limited due to the long sentences they have to serve, will soon benefit from a long distance educational package.

The move is a collaboration between the prison and some public and private universities in the country and will ensure that inmates who qualify for tertiary education are not denied the right, a prison official has told TV3.

The Head of Education at the Nsawam Prisons, Superintendent Daniel Mensah, told TV3's Narkwor Kwabla and Peter Quao Adator that they want to "extend long distance learning” at the universities to Nsawam.

“We are praying that if it materialises, then you can start from JHS up to university here.”

The biggest prison in the country is situated at the outskirts of the Nsawamtownshipin the Eastern Region, but it is over populated.

It offers junior and senior high school education as well as Information and Communication Technology (ICT), technical and vocational courses to300 of the over 3,700 inmates. The programme, which began in 2008, has never recorded fails in the Basic Education Certificate Examination, BECE.

“Majority of our convicts who write the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, also qualify to the universities."