Pretoria - Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has wished all the offenders writing matric exams at correctional centres countrywide success in their efforts to empower and improve their lives.
A total of 129 inmates are sitting for this year's examinations in four centres - 26 inmates at Usethubeni, 14 in Voorberg, 12 in St Albans and 67 in Kutama Senthumule.
"This is a defining year in your schooling years and you must take every opportunity provided by Correctional Services with both hands. The department can do everything to help but the key to your success and an increased chance of successful re-integration into your communities is in your hands," the minister said on Monday.
Nqakula's long term vision is for formal education to be mandatory for all offenders in South Africa's Correctional System who are of a school going age. It is also hoped that offenders who fall outside of this category will be encouraged to take up formal education over and above the vocational skilling programs offered by the department.
One of the key result areas in the minister's performance agreement with the President is enhancing the access of inmates to rehabilitation and development programmes which include formal education over the next three years.
Of the sentenced inmates, 56 000 are young people between the ages of 18 to 25, many of whom lack basic education.
From 2009, the department has facilitated the registration of five more correctional centres providing full time schooling in Voorberg in the Western Cape, St Albans in the Eastern Cape, Johannesburg and Baviaanspoort in Gauteng and Kuthama Sinthumule in Limpopo.
The department has a full time school named Usethubeni in Durban which has registered high pass rates of up to 100 percent over the years.
"There is a long way to go with so much to be done to meeting our targets. We believe with the collaboration of our partners like the Department of Education and the private sector, we can do more to ensure effective development and rehabilitation of young inmates.
"We will overcome our challenges that include shortage of qualified teachers, limited classrooms and scarce skills in particular commerce, mathematics and science," she said.
