Norwegian presentation of ICT situation in Norway

ICT responsible at Romerike prison Thor Inge Berge presented opportunities and limitations within the Norwegian system for the use of ICT in prison education at a national conference related to prison education in the Netherlands. The conference  was organized by Alice.

Then we attended the conference and listened to challenges in the netherlands at the intersection of rehabilitation, efficiency and security in prisons. The challenges also seem familiar for norwegian prison education

ICT in Prisons, Netherlands

Vocational skills that inmates can use in the outside world are extremely beneficial for reducing crime. The example of the Netherlands, where the 2016 custodial programme ensured more than 1,000 workshop hours in five of the seven Dutch youth prisons, is the proof.  Investment in prisoner welfare may explain why, according to the Numbeo worldwide crime index, the Netherlands is ranked as the 11th safest country in Europe, whereas the UK is one of the worst, coming 30th out of 39. 

A Belgian-made flexible IT platform, PrisonCloud, designed for the secure distribution of content and services to inmates, helped Van De Steene establish a model “that has been used to include the offenders, and give them access to all kinds of services that are digitally delivered. In the last decade, different offender self-servicing systems have been introduced all over the world to enable prisoners to do things by themselves and avoid digital illiteracy.”

Offender self-servicing systems can be similar to kiosks, such as those used for checking in at airports, or checkouts used by customers to scan and pay at supermarkets. This kind of platform takes a lot of pressure off prison guards, who can then plan their time and resources more efficiently. Prisoners can use the self-service to arrange meetings with family, book healthcare appointments, access legal papers, movies, music, the prison shop and educational tools from a secure link in their cell, which is constantly monitored.

Schooling is seen as one of the most powerful weapons to change the world, and thankfully, prison education is finally getting more technological support. Van De Steene says many institutions have separate classrooms where some e-learning content has been made available. “Those systems are slowly moving into the cell and are opening connectivity towards teachers and schools (e.g. Open University) to facilitate interactive learning and the necessary communication and guidance.” As French poet Victor Hugo says, ‘he who opens a school door, closes a prison.’ (https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2018/02/prison-tech-keeping-inmates-and-staff-secure/)

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

In the 17th century, painting in the Netherlands flourished in such a way that it is often only what is associated with the golden age. In the densely populated country, many centers for painting arose in a short time and within a small area - in addition to Amsterdam also Haarlem, Delft, Utrecht, Leiden, The Hague and Deventer. Soon there was painting and graphics almost everywhere, the Netherlands became a large "art factory" (Wikipedia).

Bleep

Blended learning environment for European prisoners

BLEEP is a project on digital inclusion that requires the creation and implementation of an innovative, creative, Europe-focused, mixed learning platform for all prisoners and ex-prisoners. This project wants to contribute to the professional development of prison staff and their plans for lifelong learning and digital skills. Furthermore, the BLEEP project integrates educational and reintegration learning processes that are thought to have a positive impact on skills development.

Norgerhaven prison

Norgerhaven prison is a prison in Noordenveld in the Netherlands. The prison has 272 places and is owned by Dienst Justitiele Inrichtingen as part of the larger institution PI Veenhuizen.

We were met by the headmaster of the school at Norgerhaven prison. He took us around the prison and we met students, teacher, ICT manager and prison guards. The school had a school leader, an ICT manager and 3 teachers of approx. 580 inmates. The recurrence rate in the Netherlands was stated to be approx. 43%.

Students could log on to a "white list" on the computer and study various subjects. Due to the fact that there were many inmates helpt by quite a few teachers, the school staff were mostly used as supervisors.

Prisonsystem in Netherlands

There are 48 institutions in the Dutch prison system. 30 prisons for adults, 5 institutions for juvenile delinquents, 2 illegal aliens and 11 TBS clinics. Foreign prisoners (percentage of prison population) is 23.1% and the official capacity of prison system is 14419 (2020)

The US recidivism rate — that is, how often people who've been to prison end up going back — is 52%, according to 2013 data. The Netherlands' is closer to 40% and has been declining for over a decade. The Dutch justice system is cutting jail populations by offering specialist rehabilitation to people with mental illnesses

Thursday 14th october

The prepered program was set to visit our contact in Rotterdam and get a tour in the prison there. Unfortunately this had to be canceled at the last minute and we set up cultural content at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam instead. This is the Dutch National Museum in Amsterdam.

The museum concentrates on art, crafts and history. It has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age and an important collection of Asian art.

Friday 15th october

Visiting 2 digital projects in Utrecht:

- Bleep (Blended learning environment for European prisoners)

        - Alice Erens - Click F1 program manager

- Chances and Changes

        - Ed Santman - director

Chances and Changes

Chances and Changes develop multi-disciplinary art projects with people at the edge of society, like drugs abusers and prisoners. In most of the projects they approach the arts also as a tool for non-formal learning. The ambition is to help the target group to develop basic skills. The organization Chances and Changes operates at the intersection of art, education and society. Apart from creating stronger communities, the essence of the work is the use of art as a tool for developing social and employability skills.