By Rabindra Rooplall
PRISON OFFICERS are being trained to become facilitators within the prison system in order to host rehabilitative workshops to equip inmates with employable skills so that they will be successfully integrated into society.

NURI, the research institute attached to School of Nations, has been awarded a two-year consultancy through the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)-Government of Guyana project to focus on the rehabilitation of prisoners in Guyana.

At the end of the 22-month programme, the prison officers and prisoners will get internationally-recognised certificates from the Association of Business Executives (ABE) in the UK.
Due to COVID-19, this support is being provided by the Nations’ team via WhatsApp groups and Zoom.
The intervention, which began a year ago, is multi-faceted. It includes training in literacy, computers, technology, art and music, entrepreneurship and psychological skills.

Training will also be done in business skills which will offer inmates the possibility of establishing their own income-generation projects to avoid a return to crime.

It also includes an examination of the legal situation in Guyana and a review of classification systems and monitoring and evaluation methods within the prisons.
Nations has recruited a team of 26 consultants from overseas and from Guyana to meet the objectives of the consultancy.

This consultancy by NURI adopts a ‘trainer of trainers’ approach whereby the NURI consultants train the Prison Officers (POs) and then the Nations’ team accompany the POs as they introduce the same training to prisoners.
By adopting such an approach it contributes to the sustainability of the intervention.
The various Lines of Action adopted by NURI for this consultancy are building on programmes that are already in place in each of the prisons.

Dr O’Toole, the Director of the Nations project, said: “To help promote sustainability in the project we adopted a train-the-trainers approach but this was only possible because of the very high caliber of prison staff we were invited to work with and the relationships that many of them have established with many of the prisoners.”
The entrepreneurship training is provided by Max Persaud, who has delivered such courses throughout the country.
The training is based on a course provided by the Association of Business Executives (ABE) from the UK.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Persaud has now delivered the first part of the training for Prison Officers (POs) in five of Guyana’s prisons. The course focuses on the practical steps involved in setting up a business.
“The training in entrepreneurship at Mazaruni Prison lasted four days with 12 inmates. There were three prison officers attending as lead trainers. Many of the inmates worked before in nearby villages on carpentry jobs. After receiving training in entrepreneurship, the prisoners were now able to estimate costs of jobs based on material, labour and overhead and profit margins something which they could not do before training,” Persaud, said
He further commented: “We trained 12 inmates at Lusignan Prison. Two prison officers were lead trainers. One inmate was still trying to help his family run his grocery store from the prison. After training, he was excited to learn simple book keeping practices like profit and loss calculations, inventory management and overhead costs which enabled him to better manage his business. Another inmate made prisoners’ and prison officers’ uniforms. After training he was able to demonstrate critical cost elements in running a business. He was released and returned to Essequibo to start up his own tailor shop and continue running his photography business feeling confident with the entrepreneurship training he received.”
Nations plans to produce a book from this project that will showcase the art, music, rap and stories of the prisoners which it hopes will contribute to a deeper understanding of the lives and experiences of prisoners and begin to showcase prisoners in a new light.
It is hoped that the various lines of training will help equip the prisoners on their release to embrace new opportunities.
The Nations team is now working with the POs in three of the prisons in supporting the officers as they put the training into practice with the prisoners.
The overall goal of the project is therefore to assist in the process of rehabilitation of prisoners and help promote a more welcoming environment within the Guyanese context to accept prisoners back into society on their release.