26 July
Nine prisoners at Christchurch Men's Prison celebrated gaining a Level 2 Certificate in Engineering last week. It is the second group of prisoners this month to achieve their Level 2 National Certificates in Mechanical Engineering through Corrections Inmate Employment run training, brining the total number of graduations this month to fifteen.
“These certificates are a significant achievement, and represent the culmination of six months hard work by the prisoners,” says Corrections Inmate Employment Instructor John Hewitson.
The Level 2 National Certificate gives graduate prisoners NZQA credits equivalent to introductory polytechnic learning – covering basic health and safety through to technical drawing and welding and machining.
“One prisoner in particular really changed over the course,” says Mr Hewitson. “He came in to the course really disinterested with a bad attitude. But when he got into the course he took to welding really well, and his attitude changed. He began to tidy himself up and approach his learning in a much more positive and proactive light.
“I talked to this prisoner’s case officers and they agreed this was a great opportunity for him to take his learning further. We hope to facilitate the prisoner's advancement into the engineering workshop and help him gain more industry skills, including sitting a 4711 welding test – a welding industry test that provides skills the industry is crying out for,” says Mr Hewitson.
“The credits they earn are there for life, which provides motivation for prisoners as they can keep studying if they get transferred within the prison system, and can also build on them with further study when they are released. The Level 2 National Certificate goes a long way to providing prisoners with employment prospects in engineering.
“The next engineering course we run will be of extended duration to include embedded literacy/numeracy as part of the curriculum. Embedded literacy and numeracy helps prisoners build up their in-depth understanding of the course material and their ability to think laterally to solve problems. Many prisoners lack basic literacy and numeracy skills, and we want to address this learning barrier.
“The majority of prisoners have limited education or work experience. By following Correction Inmate Employment’s pathways prisoners can work towards finding a job on release. Research shows that prisoners who are able to find sustainable work on release are less likely to re-offend.”
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