Three Times as Many Russian Prisoners in 2019 than in 2018 Sought Higher Educations While Behind Bars

Paul Goble

            Staunton, January 9 – Reflecting changes in the composition of those in Russian penal institutions, in Moscow’s attitude toward preparing prisoners for return to the workforce, and in prisoners’ assessments of education, three times as many Russian prisoners last year sought to complete higher educations while behind bars than did a year earlier (newizv.ru/news/society/22-11-2019/rossiyskie-zaklyuchennye-stali-v-tri-raza-chasche-zaochno-uchitsya-v-vuzah).

            The Federal Penal Service is making it easier for prisoners to take classes and to prepare for re-entering the workforce after completing their sentences in other ways as well, Novyye izvestiya reports.  It has launched a program to teach prisoners how to write resumes and provided places on a website to post them (tass.ru/obschestvo/7484601).

            The Service has launched another program that may be intended to allow for the earlier release of prisoners: it is instructing prisoners on how to write letters to the victims of their crimes (newizv.ru/news/society/11-12-2019/zaklyuchennyh-stanut-uchit-pisat-primiritelnye-pisma-svoim-zhertvam).

            To save money and to reduce the impact of incarceration on the economy, Moscow has been pushing down the number of prisoners for the last few years. These latest actions suggest that trend will continue and that the Penal Service has been directed to find new ways to release prisoners early and make them ready to re-enter the workforce as soon as possible.