Nationwide — Ten Jamaicans serving sentences for critical crimes, together with homicide, have earned college levels whereas in jail. The graduates, all Black women and men, say the achievement has restored their dignity and renewed their hope for the longer term.
On the ceremony, a summa cum laude graduate spoke on behalf of the group, calling the milestone “a celebration of hope” and “a resurrection of objective.” He credited imaginative and prescient, help, and braveness for making change potential and thanked rights group Stand Up for Jamaica for standing by them, in line with the Jamaica Observer.
5 of the graduates obtained affiliate levels in enterprise administration, whereas the opposite 5 earned bachelor’s levels in the identical area. This system started in 2018 as a partnership between Stand Up for Jamaica, the College of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC), and the Division of Correctional Companies (DCS). It began as a pilot at St Catherine with 4 inmates and one correctional officer, later increasing to Tower Road and South Camp, the nation’s solely feminine jail.
Carla Gullotta, government director of Stand Up for Jamaica, known as the success extraordinary. Out of 690 exterior college students, a number of inmates ranked among the many prime 25. She praised UCC for agreeing to a venture many would flip down and described the hurdles of organising lessons, securing computer systems and web entry, and arranging weekend classes in jail.
Regardless of these achievements, Gullotta warned that stigma may block the graduates from discovering jobs after launch. She stated rehabilitation can’t be taken significantly except society additionally helps reintegration.
She additionally criticised the parole course of, noting that some graduates eligible for parole have been denied. Letters to them claimed they wanted “extra rehabilitation,” regardless of their management within the programme.
For Gullotta, the true problem is guaranteeing the levels are used. She continues to induce non-public sector and civil society leaders to present the graduates a second likelihood.
