Education in prisons
Civil society organizations have criticized the absence of the São Paulo State Education Department at the public hearing to discuss the State Plan for Education in Prisons, held on March 11.
The nonattendance could result in a smaller participation by civil society in the formulation of the plan, which must be presented by the Education Department itself to Depen (National Prison Department) by April 2015.
“Even though it has the largest prison population in the country, with 297,096 inmates, São Paulo has still not come forward to publicly debate the definition of the Plan,” reads an excerpt of the statement of condemnation, which was signed by eight organizations.
They go on to express “concern with the fact that the government of São Paulo has not presented a State Plan for Education in Prisons and, more importantly, the fact that the São Paulo State Education Department has not established a fluid and democratic dialogue channel for the Plan”.
The National Plan for Education in Prisons, which guarantees the human right to education, was established by decree in 2011. The implementation strategies and targets, however, need to be decided by the states.
Click here to read the letter in full.
