Prisoner welfare

A scheme is being mooted to train prisoners to read and write in their mother tongues. This follows a disclosure that the bulk of our prisoner population are either illiterate or semi literate.

One should not lose sight of the fact that prisoners too are part of our society and they cannot be forgotten and allowed to rot behind prions walls simply because they have erred in their ways.

There are those who advocate that the term prison be done away with and replaced by “Correction Centre” as a means of erasing the stigma attached to the term. This is based on the premise that prisoners should be given a chance to reform and rehabilitate and finally enter society as equal citizens after readjusting themselves.

There is a need to change attitudes of society regarding prisoners. They should be given a chance to function as ordinary members of society free from any prejudice once they are set free. Today the stigma attached to a prisoner is difficult to shake off.

Today there are various community programmes and events where prisoners are active participants. There are also various vocational training programmes and skills development projects launched for prisoners, to equip them to re-enter society as productive citizens.

It is in this context that the new programme commenced for prison inmates should be acknowledged and appreciated. According to a report in our inside pages yesterday Commissioner of Prisons (Welfare) M.B. Ratnayake sates that arrangements have been made to teach reading and writing to prisoners in all the 28 prisons in the country.

Speaking at a function he also made the startling revelation that as much as 40 per cent of our prisoners cannot even read and write in their mother tongue, Sinhala or Tamil. This in a country that boasts of a 90 per cent literacy rate.

Hence this programme to induct these prisoners even into the barest element of an education is a welcome feature. True, this alone may not equip them to make a huge transformation in their lives once out of the can.

But it can represent a beginning, especially to the youth to seek out avenues which were hitherto shut out for them. It may also drive them to change their outlook and join the mainstream of society. We say this because crime and lawlessness in our society can be attributed to ignorance and a lack of a formal education.

Some of these elements may have not seen the inside of a school and taken to crime at an early age. The murky backgrounds from which these prisoners are bred should also be looked into by those contemplating prisoner reform.

Today in most instances crime runs in the family and the father usually passes on the baton to the offspring. There are instances where the father and son are locked up in the same prison. This is more so due to the wider field that is opened today for crime and vice.

The young are initiated in their formative years into a life of crime. First of all they should be weaned out of their shady and sleazy existence and given the opportunity to integrate with society. It is the lack of a schooling that has robbed them of a sense of right and wrong and shut them to the moral and ethical values that bind a society.

True, prisoners are today given vocational training while serving their terms. While this may provide them with a means of a livelihood once out of jail the ability to read and write no doubt would be an added advantage to further their prospects.

It would also gain them more acceptance from society and set them on par with rest of the community. The ability to read would also give them an opportunity to be better informed and mend their ways in the best possible manner.

While providing a basic education to prisoners is a good thing steps should also be taken to ensure the well being of their offspring who may drift into crime if left to their devices as experience have shown.

Most children of prisoners often find themselves at a loose end and tend to follow in the footsteps of their progenitors. This would only breed more crime and more overcrowding of our prions.

Therefore measures should be devised to ensure the offspring of prisoner children are spared from this domino effect. Above all what is needed is an ideal environment which would arrest the breeding of crime and the consequent prisoner population.