Jails and prisons are traditionally associated with men. Indeed, an overwhelming percentage of incarcerated individuals all over the world are men. In India, the situation is no different. There are only 31 women’s jails spread across 15 States and Union territories in the country, with most states having no specific accommodations for women.
A lot of the time, women are housed in separate enclosures within male prisons. In short, the prison system has been conceptualized for men. How then do women within this system find their place? Are adequate resources available for the needs of women? What role does education, as a part of the process of rehabilitation, play here?
The Question Of Children
Education for women in prisons extends to their children as well. According to the data collated by the National Crime Records Bureau, 8% of the 19,913 women prisoners had their children live in jail with them in 2019. In many situations, the children have no one else to look after them. They can remain with their mothers in jail till the age of 6, after which state-run institutions keep them. This means that these kids do not learn how to cope with the outside world and remain disadvantaged.
What Is The Current Situation For Incarcerated Women And Their Children?
When prisoners are educated, they are less likely to return to jail and are more likely to get jobs and become meaningful members of society. The National Prison Manual (2016) affirms that “education of prisoners benefits the society as well as it leads to their rehabilitation and reintegration.”
To that end, it delineates a diverse and inclusive educational structure, taking into account the education level of prisoners, their aptitudes, and interests. Further, education in the manual is not only regarded as academic education but also vocational, social, cultural, computers etc.
Moreover, the education of illiterate offenders between the ages of 18-21 is considered mandatory.
Given this elaborate blueprint of education for inmates, it follows that considerable investment, in terms of infrastructure, resources, and educators must be provided.
However, a 2018 report on Women in prisons by the Ministry of Women and Child development states that visits by the NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) to various prisons found that most prisons did not offer universal education to women. Access to higher educational levels was negligible, and even in prisons where libraries exist, women prisoners can’t often access them. Lack of staff, planning, and teachers all create a hindrance in educating the inmates.
Even in vocational education, the options available to women prisoners are less marketable than the options given to male prisoners. The skills they learn while in prison are often not enough to be utilized upon release and cannot sustain them financially.
For the women prisoners with children, the manual lays down that creches be made available so that they can receive an education. It makes it compulsory for women to spend an hour a day on education.
However, most prisons do not have creches. This makes it difficult for the children themselves to begin and continue their education. Since they cannot join regular schools, younger children will have to rely on curricula followed by the creches. Without functioning creches, their education gets compromised. Further, these children may not be able to cope with the outside world, given that their socialization is restricted to female inmates.
Older children are put in state-run child care institutions, but as exemplified in this report by Prayas, they face a lot more difficulties like stigma, financial issues etc.
What’s The Solution?
State governments need to draw up and implement standardized educational programs for their women inmates. This will ensure that a certain quality of teaching-learning is achieved and that a minimum standard is maintained.
Further, an emphasis needs to be placed on practical and vocational skills that will remain relevant after their release and will help the women get back on their feet. In West Bengal, for instance, the Computer-Aided Adult Literacy Program has been launched to educate inmates on how to use, learn from, and engage with computers.
Similarly, for the children of the women prisoners, specific facilities need to be made to ensure that they are educated and looked after properly. NGO’s like the India Vision Foundation actively work towards rebuilding the lives of these children. If prisons reach out to these NGOs and work with them, then an ecosystem of structure and support can be built for the children.
The author is a Kaksha Correspondent as a part of writers’ training program under Kaksha Crisis.