Govt to Integrate TVET Programs in Correctional Facilities to Enhance Inmate Skills
The State Department of Correctional Services places a strong emphasis on enhancing the vocational training and formal education of detainees so that they conform to the strategy for their reformation and rehabilitation.
Principal Secretary (PS) Salome Beacco stated that the Department intends to connect with the Training and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) value chain, which consists of the vocational training industries, in order to determine how to expand the sector.
According to Beacco, some inmates are attending universities, while others are equipped with skills such as tailoring, welding, and digitization so that they can utilize others and be independent once they conclude their jail sentence.
She emphasized that the government is adamant about the need to generate more jobs, and that in the correctional sector, the Department is reviving various industries in order to equip inmates with more skills.
She stated that the prison sector includes numerous industries in which inmates participate, such as tailoring, carpentry, welding, and prison farms where Institutions can cultivate and raise crops.
“We are some of the best furniture manufacturers in the country, and because a levy has been implemented to increase the cost of importing goods, we urge the public to support us, as a portion of this revenue will go back to training our inmates in vocational training and ensuring that they receive certificates from NITA-affiliated institutions,” she said.
The PS was speaking in Mombasa during a familiarization tour at Shimo la Tewa Maximum Security Prison. She stated that she was complying with the President’s directive to inspect all prison facilities, both the staff quarters and the prison quarters, in order to assess the needs of both the staff and the inmates.
She stated, “I am here to inspect ongoing as well as stalled projects, determine the reasons why these projects are stalled, and determine what can be done to improve the situation.”
She stated that during the visit she had the opportunity to interact with the inmates, who gave her a list of requests and promised to investigate them.
She mentioned that visitation rights, which have been reinstated, and prison uniforms, which will be examined, were among the concerns raised.
“We have a substantial textile industry at Shimo la Tewa Maximum Prison, and I’ve discovered that they produce the prison uniform. “They have produced 700 out of the targeted 900, and we hope to increase that number continuously,” she added.
The PS reported that plans are in the works to revive livestock farming, assess the condition of the farmlands, and determine whether or not they can increase the livestock acreage in an effort to revive the leather factory in order to provide shoes for themselves and the public.
She promised to continue examining staff motivation, beginning with promotions, and noted that the Department will continue addressing staff and inmate welfare.
She stated that the Department is also looking forward to increasing the number of facilities and collaborating with the National Commission on Administration of Justice to have more remandees appear in court from the outside, so that the prisons do not become overcrowded.
According to the Public Secretary (PS), as reported by the County Commissioner (CC), the concept of an Alternative Justice System is thriving in Mombasa.
She noted that approximately 70 percent of problems are resolved outside of the Probation office with the cooperation of the CC and the Probation Office.
She stated, “This is something we will continue to scale up in order to decongest, as I have established that the number of prisoners serving their sentences is far less than those in remand.”
Concerning land ownership, the PS reported the formation of a Taskforce and the collection of data on the number of land parcels without title certificates. It is now enlisting the assistance of the respective departments to acquire title deeds for all penal lands.
Govt to Integrate TVET Programs in Correctional Facilities to Enhance Inmate Skills