21 December
A prisoner in Hawkes Bay Regional Prison’s Youth Unit has been awarded The Correspondence School’s top prize for Computing.
“This is a fantastic result and I am very proud of the prisoner’s dedication to not only gaining this NCEA Level 2 qualification but excelling at it and gaining the top computing award,” says Hawkes Bay Regional Prison Manager George Massingham.
“The prisoner showed immense dedication during the seven month long intense computing course and has gained valuable skills that he will be able to put into practice once released. The prisoner has developed a real passion for learning and has now gone onto other studies including Level 3 Computing, Information Management and English. Once completed he will then work on completing his University entrance qualification next year."
Correspondence School acting Central North Regional Manager Anil Singh says, “The student’s work was of a high standard. After enrolling in May he completed all the available Level 2 unit standards and two of the three available Level 3 unit standards.”
“Sadly, the majority of the youth prisoners come into our custody with little or no education, so it is fantastic to see their literacy ability improve dramatically throughout the process of completing qualifications. One of their biggest challenges is not to give up. We spend a lot of time encouraging them that the end result is worth the hard work and that they are worth that effort," says George.
“We are particularly proud that at the end of October we had 23 prisoners complete qualifications in NCEA Levels 1 and 2 and National Certificates in Computing and Mathematics. These prisoners have now moved on to other studies including Mathematics, English, Information Management, Legal Studies, Latin, Classics and Science.
“Youth prisoners often come from environments of abuse, significant bereavement, family addiction and illness, poverty and premature adult responsibility. They have backgrounds involving aggressive, destructive and anti social behaviour. Many are sad, despondent and angry at a time where they are right in the midst of forming an identity for themselves.
“Therefore, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to positively influence the way these youths’ identities develop and to give them knowledge and skills that will place them in a more positive position once they are released.”
Notes to Editors
Prisoners undertaking Correspondence School qualifications do not have access to the internet.
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