In brief: Education in young offender institutions
Young people in young offender institutions (YOI) are entitled to receive an education. Receiving that education is of great importance both for themselves and for society as a whole. There are continuing concerns about the way education is organised and positioned within young offender institutions in the Netherlands. Additionally, the increase in the average age of YOI residents places different demands on education than previously.
The Education Council puts forward three recommendations for ensuring that good-quality education can be delivered within young offender institutions. First, the rules and systems of the different ministries involved need to be better aligned, and a shared vision needs to be developed regarding the role and position of education in YOIs. Second, the applicable education legislation needs to be adapted to enable young detainees to be offered a sufficiently varied education programme, enable examinations to be properly administered and make it possible to pursue an appropriate personnel policy. The third recommendation is to strengthen the cooperation between YOI schools and other education providers.
Background: Continuing concerns about education provision to residents of young offender institutions
On any given day, there are almost 500 young people in young offender institutions in the Netherlands, around 1,500 to 2,000 on an annualised basis. A considerable proportion of the intake spend only a few weeks or months in a young offender institution; during the time they spend there, they receive education at a YOI school. There have been indications for some time that education in young offender institutions is not organised and positioned in a way that is conducive to delivering good education. Young offender institutions are faced with capacity and staff shortages which also affect their ability to deliver education. Moreover, the average age of residents has risen over the last ten years, mainly due to the introduction of Adolescent Criminal Law. Whilst YOI schools are adapting their education provision, they encounter a number of formal and practical obstacles, such as a lack of, or outdated practical training facilities, legal restrictions on what education they are allowed to offer, and inadequate opportunities for taking examinations.
In recent years the Inspectorate of Justice & Security, the Inspectorate of Education, the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate and the Netherlands Labour Authority have provided intensive joint supervision of young offender institutions and their educational facilities. Other bodies have also been involved in this oversight. Nonetheless, concerns remain regarding the ability to deliver structurally good education in young offender institutions. At the request of the government, the Education Council advises on what is needed to enable YOI schools to provide good education for their students.
Advice: Enable the best possible education to be provided in young offender institutions
Young people in young offender institutions are entitled to receive an education. Receiving that education is of great importance both for themselves and for society as a whole. The Council advises the relevant ministries to provide better guarantees for the quality of education provided in young offender institutions. In practice this means guaranteeing regular school attendance for every young resident, ensuring that every resident has access to education, is able to participate in that education and to complete their education with a diploma, testimonial or certificate. It also means that YOI schools should be able to work towards educational goals, alongside and in conjunction with the pedagogical approach and goals of the institution and juvenile criminal law. At present, none of these aspects are sufficiently guaranteed.
Recommendation 1: Improve the coordination of the activities of the relevant ministries
Several government ministries are involved in the provision of education to residents of young offender institutions, the most closely involved being the Ministry of Justice and Security and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Each ministry has its own executive agencies and supervisory bodies, with their own frameworks, rules, systems for information dissemination, accountability and monitoring, and their own planning cycles and timelines. That creates unnecessary duplication and makes it harder for professionals in young offender institutions and YOI schools to do their jobs and collaborate with their peers.
The Council advocates better coordination of the regulations and systems around education provision to residents of young offender institutions. The Ministry of Justice and Security would need to take the lead here, given its system responsibility for juvenile criminal law. The Council also recommends that educational considerations be taken into account in a balanced way when making decisions about young people in young offender institutions, alongside considerations concerned with judicial and treatment aspects.
Coordinating policy requires a shared vision of the role and position of education in young offender institutions. The Council recommends that the relevant ministries develop such a vision, in collaboration with young offender institutions and YOI schools. The Council identifies a number of key building blocks to facilitate this process.
Recommendation 2: Create suitable legal frameworks for education in young offender institutions
The ability to offer young people in young offender institutions a broad-based education, administer examinations satisfactorily and appoint suitable teaching teams will require adaptation of the legal frameworks. Existing legislation and supervisory frameworks are no longer aligned with the increased average age of residents of young offender institutions and the resultant diversity of educational needs.
The Council sees two possible ways forward here: amendment of the Special Education Act (WEC), under which YOI schools currently fall; or placing YOI schools within the remit of the Adult and Vocational Education Act (WEB).
The Council also recommends enshrining in law that every YOI school can act as an examination centre for general and vocational examinations, so that residents do not need to venture outside the institution to take their exams.
Finally, the Council makes an urgent plea for expansion of the legal frameworks, to formally create scope for personnel policy aimed at ensuring variation in the school team. This is important both from the perspective of the education provision and the specific characteristics of the residents.
Recommendation 3: Strengthen the cooperation between YOI schools and other education facilities
Good-quality education can only be provided in young offender institutions if it is matched to the residents’ education before entering and after leaving the institution. This calls for stronger links with education establishments outside the young offender institution. Due to the special context of deprivation of liberty and juvenile criminal law, it cannot be assumed that these links will occur automatically. Cooperation and coordination are currently often dependent on the good will and dedication of individual professionals from both YOI schools and external education establishments.
The Education Council calls for closer cooperation between YOI schools and external education facilities. Every YOI school needs partnerships with one or more other schools in order to be able to develop a varied education programme that is tailored to its residents. YOI and external schools could simplify reciprocal contact at intake and on release, and could work together in a more structured way. The government could make clear where responsibilities lie and facilitate cooperation, for example by establishing a legal basis for joint programmes or for supervision of distance education.