Luzira prison inmates take on UNEB exams

Nobody expects prisoners to start schooling let alone doing exams. But last year 17 inmates sat the Primary Leaving Examinations and 23 sat their ‘O’ levels. Florence Nakaayi reports.THE Uganda Prison Service is reinforcing its belief that education of the inmates is a key to their complete rehabilitation.Last year, 52 inmates were offered formal education at Luzira Upper Prison. 17 of them sat for the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) and 23 for the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE). The rest had been released by the time the exams came round. Only two dared return to the prison for the sake of an examination. In the recently released PLE results, one prisoner passed in grade one, 11 candidates scored a second grade and two passed in fourth grade. While in ‘O’ level, one scored a first grade with 21 aggregates, five of them passed in second grade, 14 scored a third grade and only two got a fourth grade. Prison authorities provide appropriate education to enable the inmates be of service to themselves while in the cells, and to the whole community when they come out. The authorities say that over 50% of the inmates are illiterate when they are brought in. They are provided with functional adult literacy classes, as well as other aspects of informal and formal education.Out of 40 candidates who sat examinations last year, 31 were in the condemned section and nine were serving ordinary sentences. Of the 31 condemned, 21 attended secondary school while 10 were in primary. “To my surprise, most of the students who sat are from among the condemned,” says John Kagambo, the Prisons senior welfare officer. “Education has increased the prisoner’s hope to be released and work harder for the future,” he adds.Kagambo says that for a long time the prison service had in place only informal education. However, through the combined effort of government and the St Franciscan Missionary Sisters, Nsambya, they have been able to offer formal education and register for examinations. Last year saw the second batch of inmates who sat UNEB examinations.Out of the seven candidates who sat for ‘O’ level in 2000, one (Henry Agume) got a first division pass with an aggregate of 19. Agume was, luckily, released on appeal the day he received his results. Kagambo says the lessons are conducted by the more elite prisoners following the school syllabus. He says the learners have a deep interest in their studies and have performed well since the new system was introduced.Science teaching offers some difficulty though. It involves delicate and expensive equipment. To get round that, the general Science syllabus is followed instead of the specialised disciplines of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.Kagambo says, however, that formal education being rather difficult for adults, most learners drop out and go into the informal adult literacy programme, before they complete primary education. Vocational studies such as tailoring, carpentry and shoe-making, make up the bulk of informal education. So far there are 10 learners in the tailoring class, 70 in carpentry and 30 in shoe-making. “We are very happy that education has raised the inmates’ hopes of being released. Like any other human being they have developed interest in their studies, even if some of them are in the condemned section,” says Kagambo.Education Vision looked at marked scripts for last term’s promotional exams. In Primary Six, the highest score was 313 out of 400, with that candidate getting 92 in English, 43 in Mathematics, 90 in Science, and 88 in Social Studies (SST).Kagambo says the prison is now preparing to organise tertiary studies by correspondence to enable the inmates acquire higher skills.Mr David Aliobe the assistant welfare officer, says at least four teachers are employed three months before the exams to polish the students. before they sit for exams.