Tag Archives: Right to education

A right to education for all: Unlocking potential behind bars

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As we mark International Day of Education, Daniel Baril looks back at the Montreal International Conference on Education in Prison, held last October, which presented an inspiring vision for the future of prison education. Drawing on his closing remarks, he emphasizes the profound ways in which prison education upholds the universal right to education, ensuring inclusivity for all.

© Thai Department of Correction

Education in prison is not merely a tool for social rehabilitation but a fundamental human right. At the Montreal International Conference on Education in Prison, this central message resonated as speakers emphasized the necessity of recognizing incarcerated people as rightful holders of this right. Access to education in the prison environment, often characterized by exclusion, must be re-examined through this human-rights lens.

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‘Read Your Way Out’: How reading can reduce a prison sentence

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As we mark World Book Day, Lisa Krolak shares her experiences of initiatives that help inmates to reduce their prison sentence by reading books and using library services.

© BJMP. ‘People deprived of liberty’ (PDLs) using their library in Manila City Jail, Philippines

Creating reading policies for prisoners to earn time allowances through reading

All over the world, the prison population includes a high proportion of people from disadvantaged backgrounds and communities, often with a lower educational level than the rest of their community and struggling with reading and writing. Prisoners have a right to access education, including the use of prison library services, but this is frequently overlooked or disregarded. Moreover, it can be assumed that many prisoners were not active readers before entering prison. So how can we offer an attractive incentive to prisoners to start reading, despite their literacy struggles and the attitudes towards reading and education that they might have?

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Make the right to education a reality for all

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As we mark International Day of Education, David Atchoarena urges countries to redouble their efforts to ensure no one’s right to education is denied

Today is International Day of Education, a moment not only to celebrate education’s powerful contribution to sustainable human prosperity, progress and peace, but also to assert its wider value – as a human right and as an important public good.

It is an opportune time to consider both what we have achieved in realizing the right to education and how far we have to go to ensure this right is realized for every woman, man and child, wherever they live in the world, whatever their background or personal circumstances.

The global challenges we face are enormous. Some 258 million children and youth still do not attend school, four million children and youth refugees are out of school, and 773 million adults around the world cannot read or write, most of them women. In too many cases, disadvantaged and marginalized groups remain excluded from participation in adult learning and education, as the new UNESCO Global Report on Adult Learning and Education points out. Their right to education is being denied. This is unacceptable. Continue reading →