- two-year pilot first step to transforming literacy in prisons
- fewer than half of adult male prisoners have reading skills
of an 11-year-old
Hundreds more prisoners will leave jail with the literacy skills
needed to find work on release thanks to a new scheme aimed at
transforming reading behind bars while cutting crime.
Two charities have been awarded £1.8 million to pilot new reading
and writing programmes over 2 years - getting more offenders into
class and boosting their chances of securing work or training
once through the prison gates.
Figures show fewer than half of the male prison population have
the expected literacy levels of an 11-year-old, holding them back
from charting the path towards a crime-free life.
The Shannon Trust is using the funding to recruit full-time staff
to roll out prisoner-to-prisoner reading programmes across nine
prisons, building on the support offered by existing volunteers
to prisoners with little or no reading ability.
The National Literacy Trust will run monthly events at 6 prisons
for more advanced readers, including reading groups and creative
writing sessions, to build confidence, raise aspirations and
encourage participants to share their stories.
Prisons and Probation Minister, , said:
Evidence shows that being able to read and write to a decent
standard after prison can make all the difference between a
positive, law-abiding life or a return to crime.
From plotting a route to work or training, to paying the bills or
shopping for food – these skills are crucial in keeping prisoners
on the straight and narrow and the public safe.
The new ‘Literacy Innovation Fund delivers on another key pledge
in the Prisons Strategy White Paper and will involve 15 prisons
across the country.
The pilots will offer crucial insights into best practices, with
learnings used to shape the government’s new Prisoner Education
Service.
The new education service will boost education and skills across
the prison regime, better support literacy and numeracy and
provide clearer and stronger expectations that prisoners will
acquire the additional qualifications they need to increase job
prospects.
Rebecca Perry, Head of Adult Literacy and Criminal Justice,
National Literacy Trust, said:
We believe reading and writing for enjoyment has the power to
transform a person’s relationship to literacy and that everyone
should have access to those opportunities.
Negative experiences of formal learning, and exclusion from
school, are common themes among people in prison, so we ensure
that our activities offer inspiring creative spaces that are
accessible to all.
We are absolutely thrilled that the Literacy Innovation Fund will
give us the opportunity to expand this much-needed work.
Karen Ryan, Director of Prison Delivery, Shannon Trust, said:
We are delighted to have been awarded this funding, which will
help us to support even more people in prison to learn to read or
improve their reading.
We know that learning to read transforms not only the life of the
learner, but everyone around them. It leads to stronger family
relationships, improved prospects for work and education, and
ultimately can reduce re-offending, building stronger
communities.
The award comes as the Prison Service recruits up to 100
full-time Heads of Education, Skills and Work across the estate –
ensuring experienced oversight over the delivery of learning
behind bars – following a successful pilot at 17 prisons.
The expert appointees will lead on curriculum design, ensure
Ofsted compliance and work closely with businesses to determine
skills gaps and needs, among other responsibilities.
The government is investing £550 million over the next 3 years to
reduce reoffending by getting offenders off drugs and into
training, work and stable accommodation.
Notes to editors
- The Prisons Strategy White Paper, published in December 2021,
pledged to establish a ‘Literacy Innovation Scheme’ to challenge
potential providers to trial literacy improvement programmes that
would inform future prison education plans.
- Programmes will be trialled in 15 prisons, with around 750
prisoners expected to benefit initially.
-
The most
recent data published by the Ministry of Justice shows that
61% of adult prisoners taking initial assessments had literacy
levels below those expected of an 11-year-old.
