03 November 2022
C156964
I Brown
[FYI request #20365 email]
Tēnā koe
Thank you for your request, via the FYI website, to the Department of Corrections – Ara
Poutama Aotearoa on 27 August 2022, requesting information about the provision of
educational courses and vocational programmes in prisons. Your request has been
considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA).
I wil address each of your requests in turn. You requested:
1. A list of all educational programmes, courses, opportunities, or any other
format or type (hereafter ‘programme’), available to inmates in New Zealand
prisons for each of 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022 including:
a. The name, type, subject matter, and organisational provider, of each
programme;
The majority of people in prison have no formal qualifications and limited education or work
experience prior to coming to prison. However, Corrections acknowledges the importance
of working with individuals from their arrival into prison to ensure their needs are addressed
and their reintegration is supported. Our interventions range in intensity and length to meet
a variety of needs and include education, employment, and rehabilitation initiatives.
Some of the programmes and courses on offer at prisons have been impacted by COVID-19
and staffing constraints. COVID-19 stressors and border closures and re-openings, combined
with labour shortages across the country, have made it more challenging for us to recruit
and retain frontline staff. To respond to our staffing requirements, we have been
consolidating the prison population into fewer units, which has allowed us to deploy our
staff more effectively. At the same time, we are undertaking a national recruitment drive
and progressing a number of staff retention initiatives. This will provide options for
resuming programmes and services that have previously been on hold, alongside increasing
access to out-of-cell activities across prisons.
Corrections holds information about educational programmes and interventions, which is
categorised as:
NATIONAL OFFICE, WELLINGTON
Mayfair House, 44 – 52 The Terrace, Wellington, 6011, Private Box 1206, Wellington 6140,
Phone +64 4 460 3000
www.corrections.govt.nz
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• Intensive Literacy and Numeracy (ILN) – A programme to help learners with low
literacy or numeracy (Step 3 or below on the Literacy and Numeracy Adult
Assessment Tool) to improve their literacy and numeracy up to Step 4 or above.
• Industry Qualification Training – Industry-based training that occurs alongside work
in one of the prison industries, and leads to completion of unit standards or
qualifications in that industry.
• Vocational Short Courses – Short courses that can be completed in a few hours or 1-
2 days and are usually practical and workplace focused. This can include first aid,
forklift driving, and health and safety courses
• Tertiary Educational Courses (TEC) – Courses at the Tertiary level that are typically
12-18 weeks in length and contribute to a qualification at level 3 or above on the
NZQF.
• Self-Directed Learning (SDL) – Correspondence/distance learning through an external
education provider. May be at Secondary or Tertiary level.
• Secure Online Learning (SOL) – Access to the computer suites in a prison that provide
opportunities to develop literacy, numeracy or digital literacy skills, and
opportunities to complete driver license theory training, or search for potential jobs
under secure conditions and close supervision.
Each of these programmes is delivered by numerous different providers across all
prisons. Providing a list of all programmes’ educational providers would require the
assessment of a large quantity of data. This part of your request is refused under section
18(f) of the OIA, as the information requested cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research.
b. The name of the prison or prisons in which each programme is available;
A list of programmes, broken down by the prison at which they are run, is attached as
Appendix 1. Please note that information regarding Auckland South Corrections Facility
(ASCF) has not been provided as ASCF is managed by Serco, not Corrections.
Additionally, you will note that Mt Eden Corrections Facility (MECF) does not appear in the
Industrial Qualification Training or TEC Delivery tables. This is because MECF is a remand
prison, and the turnover of people on remand is too high for meaningful engagement with
these programmes to be possible.
c. Whether it is available to remand prisoners, serving prisoners, or both
All courses are ordinarily available to sentenced individuals across all prisons where the
programmes are offered notwithstanding the difficulties posed by the COVID-19 response
and current staffing chal enges.
As you may be aware, there are two types of remand prisoners:
• Remand accused: a person who has not yet been found (or pleaded) guilty of the
charge(s) laid against them; and
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• Remand convicted: a person who has been found (or pleaded) guilty of the charge(s)
laid against them, but the sentence they are to serve has not yet been determined
by the courts.
Remand accused people are required to be kept separate from sentenced prisoners. Some
prisons house a higher proportion of remand prisoners, while others house primarily
sentenced prisoners. The amount of time a person spends on remand is dependent on how
long it takes for the judicial process to be completed by the Courts and is influenced by
factors including the complexity of the case and the plea entered.
There are challenges in delivering educational and vocational programmes to people on
remand, including the unknown length of time that the individual wil spend in prison. Some
people only stay on remand for a few days or weeks, while others stay on remand for
lengthier periods of time.
However, Corrections acknowledges the importance of working with people on remand
from their arrival into prison to ensure their needs are addressed and their reintegration is
supported. Each person on remand is allocated a Case Manager once they have been on
remand for more than ten working days. Their Case Manager works directly with them to
assess and identify specific areas to learn new skills and ensure their time in prison is used
to their benefit. These plans could include learning skills such as parenting, managing money
and basic living skills, as well as planning for a safe release to community. Remand prisoners
also receive help with addiction, education and finding employment.
Please see Appendix 2 for details of courses available to remand accused individuals across
all sites with the exception of ASCF, which is managed by Serco, not Corrections. Remand
convicted individuals, as they have been convicted of an offence, are general y offered the
same courses as sentenced prisoners.
d. If a programme is run more than once per year, the number of times per year at
each prison where it is run; and
e. The capacity of each programme both per individual programme run and per year,
in each prison where the programme is available;
Please see the below table for details on the frequency of each programme type and its
capacity.
Education programme / How often does it run?
Capacity
intervention
Intensive Literacy and
Learners may start as soon as scheduling on Class sizes are intended
Numeracy
their site allows. Multiple classes may be
to be a maximum of six.
running at any one time at a prison.
Vocational Short
Each site schedules vocational short courses Group sizes are
courses
as demand requires. Learners may start as
dependent on the
soon as scheduling on their site allows.
individual course and
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educational provider
requirements.
TEC delivery
Course start dates are negotiated between
Group sizes are
each prison site and the external provider,
dependent on the
and are dependent on teacher availability,
individual course and
the length of the course, and operational
educational provider
constraints. The number of times per year
requirements.
that a course is offered on a prison site vary
according to these factors.
Industry Qualification
Learners can be enrolled to complete
Learning in this space is
Training
industry qualification standards at any time, individual, not class
there are no specific course start dates.
based so there is no set
limit.
Self-Directed Learning
Learners can enrol at any time with an
Learning in this space is
(SDL)
external learning provider and start dates
individual, not class
will be based on the external providers
based so there is no set
course dates.
limit.
Secure Online Learning Waitlists for this programme run
A maximum of 10
(SOL)
continuously. Learners may start as soon as learners in each SOL
scheduling on their site allows. There is no
classroom, however
set programme/course – each learner has
multiple classes may be
individual learning goals so the length of
running during each
time they attend SOL will vary.
week at each prison.
f. Respectively, the numbers of prisoners that enrol in, attend, and complete
successfully, each programme listed, both nationally and at each institution where
that programme is available, per year.
Please see Appendix 3 for the number of unique people who started an education
programme each financial year and the number of times each person attended an education
programme each financial year.
A person can be recorded as attending a programme they started in a previous financial
year or can be recorded as attending a programme multiple times.
Corrections does not hold data on learners who successful y complete each course
recorded, as this is individually held externally by each education provider. This part of your
request is therefore refused under section 18(g) of the OIA, as the information requested is
not held by Corrections, and we have no grounds for believing that it is held by another
agency or more closely connected with the functions of another agency.
Please note that this response may be published on Corrections’ website. Typical y,
responses are published quarterly, or as otherwise determined. Your personal information
including name and contact details will be removed for publication.
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I trust the information provided is of assistance. I encourage you to raise any concerns
about this response with Corrections. Alternatively, you are advised of your right to also
raise any concerns with the Office of the Ombudsman. Contact details are: Office of the
Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wel ington 6143.
Ngā mihi
Leigh Marsh
Acting National Commissioner
