Education Prospects for Women Prisoners

Education Prospects for Women Prisoners

Based on the initiative of the Ministry of Justice and the resources of Independent University of Tbilisi, some convicts are given the opportunity to acquire higher education in the penitentiary. Access to education is a basic right of prisoners, and is explicitly mentioned in the law on imprisonment.

On the basis of an agreement between the administration of Tbilisi Independent University and the management of the Penitentiary Department, an educational program has been going on in the women’s prison at no cost to the prisoners. Two days ago, the first-year students/prisoners of the prison took their first term exams.

422 prisoners expressed their desire to participate in the university program. They were given opportunity to choose the faculty themselves.  Among other areas, journalism, foreign languages, and psychology, were chosen. However, the most popular areas of study were law and economics. The first-year prisoners were given literature appropriate to their course of study. Prisoners released while participating in the educational program will have the opportunity to continue their studies at the university free of charge.