Last week ITSA travelled to Cambridgeshire to take a look around one of our UK prison programmes. HMP Whitemoor have been working with IT Schools Africa for over 8 years in a scheme that has developed and expanded to become a key component in the process of sending IT equipment to schools in Africa.
The prison focuses on helping inmates make positive use of lengthy sentences and reduce the risk of re-offending through practical work and education. The ITSA workshop provides an environment for prisoners where they have the opportunity to develop IT skills as well as working as part of a team who are taking part in useful, positive work for charity.
As part of the visit ITSA were given a tour around the workshop which is divided into two sections: the first for learning basic IT skills where inmates can complete internationally recognised qualifications, and the second is the ITSA workshop. The more experienced prisoners in the scheme work with the newer prisoners to help teach them the process which helps to develop team and leadership skills - appealing skills to potential employers upon their release.
From taking a look around the workshop it was inspiring to see the prisoners so engaged with the work they were doing for ITSA. All the prisoners that we had the opportunity to speak with were very interested to hear about the work we do in Africa and mentioned how pleased they were to be able to give something back to those less advantaged than themselves.
Ultimately the prison programme is about making positive use of the inmates time to help ITSA send as many computers as we do to African schools. Without the prison programmes in place the charity would not be physically able to distribute the same quantity of computers to give access to e-Learning to children in Africa.
Take a closer look at how we work in the UK!
The prison focuses on helping inmates make positive use of lengthy sentences and reduce the risk of re-offending through practical work and education. The ITSA workshop provides an environment for prisoners where they have the opportunity to develop IT skills as well as working as part of a team who are taking part in useful, positive work for charity.
As part of the visit ITSA were given a tour around the workshop which is divided into two sections: the first for learning basic IT skills where inmates can complete internationally recognised qualifications, and the second is the ITSA workshop. The more experienced prisoners in the scheme work with the newer prisoners to help teach them the process which helps to develop team and leadership skills - appealing skills to potential employers upon their release.
From taking a look around the workshop it was inspiring to see the prisoners so engaged with the work they were doing for ITSA. All the prisoners that we had the opportunity to speak with were very interested to hear about the work we do in Africa and mentioned how pleased they were to be able to give something back to those less advantaged than themselves.
Ultimately the prison programme is about making positive use of the inmates time to help ITSA send as many computers as we do to African schools. Without the prison programmes in place the charity would not be physically able to distribute the same quantity of computers to give access to e-Learning to children in Africa.
Take a closer look at how we work in the UK!
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