KARACHI: Prison systems all over the world are slowly moving away from the ‘retribution-based’ model towards a system based on ‘rehabilitation and reformation’. And as children are considered easier to rehabilitate, it came as no big surprise that over a dozen juvenile offenders were equipped with computer knowledge during their term and awarded certificates on the completion of their course on Friday.

The Karachi Central Prison has introduced many educational programmes and art workshops targeting this class of inmates and the Friday certificates distribution ceremony organised by the Women Islamic Lawyers Forum in a newly constructed hall in the Young Offenders Industrial School was meant for those attaining two distinct levels of computer literacy — advanced and basic.

Members of the lawyers’ forum stated that they began their services in the prison by providing legal aid, but they soon realised it wasn’t enough to secure the release of juvenile offenders as they must be enabled to earn livelihoods after their release. It was for this reason that they began holding behavioural change workshops twice a week and introduced the computer programme .

Inspector General of Prisons Sindh Nusrat Hussain Manghan was also present at the ceremony as was the superintendent of women and juvenile jails, Sheeba Shah.

While highlighting the need for rehabilitation and reformation of inmates, Mr Manghan said they’d introduced similar programmes in all the prisons in Sindh. “Children are the future of this country. We would like for them to leave and achieve great things in their life. The objective of such programmes is to ensure that we don’t see them here again,” he said.

The young offenders between the ages of 16 and 18 were awarded the certificates. They appeared timid and extremely camera shy as they lined up to receive their documents.

It was announced that there were several who had already served out their term or had been released by the time the ceremony took place, and therefore arrangements were being made to deliver the certificates at their homes.

It was also explained that the certificate did not mention that the students gained their expertise while in prison so that the stigma associated with being jailed would not follow them once they were out.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2014