In June 2009 an average of 2,729 prisoners were employed in CIE prisoner employment training activities.
2008-2009 was a tough year for CIE as we, like many other organisations, felt the impact of the toughening economic climate. In spite of this we achieved significant growth in prisoner employment training over the year.
In June 2009 an average of 2,729 prisoners were employed in CIE employment training activities. This is 394 or 17 per cent more than in the same month last year and up 1,277 or 88 per cent on June 2006. In addition, the range of employment training opportunities offered to female and youth offenders increased.
Another small but significant achievement over the year was to see more Maori prisoners represented in CIE employment training, playing our part towards the Corrections focus of “succeeding for Maori offenders” to make a real difference. This was primarily achieved by making training opportunities available for high security units which have a high number of Maori prisoners.
During this period we have continued to upskill our instructor workforce, which grew to over 300 during the year. The number of registered assessors also grew by over 25 per cent. An instructor needs to be a registered assessor to be able to assess a prisoner as having completed the requirements of a NZQA Unit Standard.
As our cover story shows, some of our instructors were recently publicly recognised in the 2009 Hospitality Standards Institute Excellence in Training Awards in the Training in a Workplace category. Canterbury Prison Catering took out the top prize with Waikeria catering also a finalist. This is tangible recognition of the progress that our workforce has made towards delivering quality employment training that is aligned with the New Zealand Qualifications Framework.
CIE is not sheltered from the effects of the global economic recession and we have recently reviewed the sustainability and effectiveness of our prisoner employment activities. The end result of this work is that a small number of our activities will be rationalised in response to prevailing market conditions.
For CIE, this does not represent a fundamental retrenchment of prisoner employment training. It is a necessary realignment of CIE to facilitate further growth in prisoner employment.
The next year holds a number of challenges and opportunities for us as we continue to grow prisoner employment in support of the Government’s policy direction and in response to the increasing prison population.
We continually look for new ways CIE can enter into partnerships with businesses and a willing and motivated prisoner workforce, providing valuable employment training to prisoners – a true win-win solution.
Brent Maughan
CIE National Manager
CIE News welcomes your feedback. Please email feedback or story ideas to commdesk@corrections.govt.nz or phone 04 460 3365.
For more information about CIE or how you can become involved with CIE, please call 04 470 8494 or email cieworktraining@corrections.govt.nz.
ISSN 1174-2909