HARIPUR, Jan 11: Around 45 juvenile prisoners were awarded certificates on completion of their computer courses here at Haripur prison on Wednesday.

The ceremony was held in the prison, in which additional inspector general of prisons, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mohammad Ali Shah, was the chief guest.

The computer centre was set up inside the prison in 2006 and presently had been run by the Society for Protection of Rights of the Child (Sparc).

Sparc programme manager Akber Ali highlighted achievements of the centre and revealed that two former juvenile prisoners, who did computer courses at the centre, were now employed in multi-national companies in Lahore and Kabul (Afghanistan). He said that another prisoner had opened his own computer training centre in Azad Kashmir.

He said that Haripur's was the only prison in the province where a computer centre had been functioning.

Mr Ali called upon the government to fully implement the laws related to juvenile prisoners, especially to provide them free legal aid and set up borstal institutions where proper education and health facilities could be provided to children.

AIG Mohammad Ali Shah said that they would continue partnership with the private sector for providing facilities to the prisoners, especially the juveniles. -Correspondent