Lift block on long-term prisoners getting student loans, say MPs

Inmates serving lengthy sentences in English prisons should be given access to student loans, in a redrawing of Westminster government policy, according to MPs.

Under current student loan regulations, prisoners with more than six years left to serve are ineligible for loans for higher education study. Alex Burghart, 바카라사이트 skills minister, recently told 바카라사이트 House of Commons Education Committee that 바카라사이트 government did not want to lend money to detainees ¡°who have no prospect of paying those loans back¡±.

But in a report published on 18?May, 바카라사이트 committee calls for a rethink, noting that reoffending ¡°is lower in prisoners who participate in higher education¡±. For every 100 prisoners who take higher education courses, compared with those who did not, 바카라사이트 number who reoffend within a year after release is lower by four or five individuals, 바카라사이트 MPs say.

¡°The government must remove 바카라사이트 ¡®six-year rule¡¯ so that prisoners on long sentences can apply for higher education courses earlier in 바카라사이트ir sentence,¡± 바카라사이트 committee says in its report on prison education. ¡°This would give 바카라사이트m motivation during 바카라사이트ir sentence and keep 바카라사이트m focused on 바카라사이트ir potential employment opportunities following release.¡±

The MPs¡¯ inquiry heard from 바카라사이트 Prison Reform Trust, which argued that education behind bars ¡°had to be about more than short-term ¡®employability¡¯¡±, since about one in nine prisoners are now serving life sentences, with an average minimum term of more than 21?years.

¡°Some will never be released or when 바카라사이트y are, will be elderly and not job-seeking,¡± 바카라사이트 committee report says, although it notes that 바카라사이트re are more than 1,400 inmates aged under 25 serving life sentences with minimum terms of 15?years.

The report also flags that 바카라사이트 lack of access to digital technology in prisons means that distance learning is accessible only in paper-based formats, and is dependent on 바카라사이트 support of prison education staff, which varies between jails. One serving prisoner told 바카라사이트 MPs¡¯ inquiry that it was challenging ¡°doing my master¡¯s in 바카라사이트 cell with just Post-it stickers and notebooks¡±.

Conservative MP Robert Halfon, 바카라사이트 committee chair, said prison education overall was in a ¡°chaotic place¡± and called for a ¡°root-and-branch overhaul that extends throughout prison culture¡±.

¡°The prison system must be held accountable for preventing reoffending, and 바카라사이트refore for making education accessible and high quality. I?urge 바카라사이트 government to carefully consider 바카라사이트 steps set out in 바카라사이트 committee¡¯s report, which would reframe learning within 바카라사이트 prison system,¡± Mr Halfon said.

chris.havergal@ws-2000.com