In the last five years, the Nigerian Correctional Service has registered over 10,000 inmates for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and the National Examinations Council examinations.
Umar Abubakar, an NCoS spokesperson, said that more than 2,000 offenders are registered in these exams nationwide each year across correctional facilities.
This, he claimed, indicated the growing success and acceptance of the NCoS’ educational programs.
Abubakar underlined that the number of enrolled inmates grows each year, indicating a growing commitment to education among the inmates.
“We have registered not less than 2,000 inmates annually for WAEC and NECO Senior School Certificate Examinations in the past five years in all custodial facilities nationwide.
“It is also good to let you know that the number of enrolment into these examinations is increasing every year, evidence of the acceptability of our academic programmes, as well as their efficiency of it.
“Specifically, we have registered a total of 10,252 inmates in the last five years,” Abubakar stated.
He also mentioned the specific National Open University of Nigeria centres in correctional facilities, where inmates can earn undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.
However, the spokesperson acknowledged that the NCoS confronts considerable problems in providing educational services to detainees.
He stated that there is no dedicated budget for registering inmates for external examinations, thus the institution must rely on donations from philanthropists and organisations to offer educational materials and cover registration fees.
He said, “Providing educational and academic programmes for the inmates is actually capital intensive. Considering the number of custodial centres across the country, we have to provide even the most basic of their educational needs such as pencils, exercise books, writing materials and other educational facilities needed for such activities.
“Presently, there is no budget for registering inmates for such external examinations, therefore, we have to rely on the goodwill of philanthropists and other well-meaning individuals and Organisations.”
Umar called on NECO, WAEC, and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board to offer exam waivers for inmates, as NOUN had done, to facilitate their rehabilitation and resettlement.
He said, “I am using this medium to call for waivers from NECO, WAEC, and JAMB for our inmates who are interested in these examinations, just like the NOUN has given us. This will make our work of reforming, rehabilitating, and resettling them much easier.”
Umar also touched on the psychological challenges faced by inmates, which often hinder their ability to focus on academic activities.
He noted that many inmates struggle with the emotional and psychological burden of their crimes and the conditions of incarceration, making academic engagement difficult.
“One of the challenges we get is preparing the inmates psychologically to engage in educational venture. While in custody, most inmates would have to deal with several psychological and emotional issues which brought them to the custodial facility in the first place.
“Many of them are haunted by the memories of the criminal behaviours they have committed, while others are challenged by the unique prison environment and conditions which stripe them of their liberty and demand that they behave in a particular way,” he pointed out.
The spokesperson stated that in order to modernise educational services, the NCoS was increasingly resorting to digital learning platforms.
Abubakar said that these platforms are being incorporated into an e-corrections system, making education more accessible to inmates via distance learning programmes.