Nearly Half of Costa Rica
Prison Inmates Taking Classes
Next week some 3,600 of Costa Rica's 8,000 inmates will begin the
2009 school course, in which they will be given elementary, high
school, university or art classes, Costa Rica's ministra de Justicia
said Friday.
Viviana Martin said that "it is very satisfying to see how those
deprived of their freedom decide of their own free will to begin
studying and use their jail time in such a beneficial way."
Also to be implemented in 2009 will be the "Eurosocial" program
financed by the European Union, through which inmates will receive
"artistic training as an alternative to formal education."
With Eurosocial, "our system is benefited and strengthened, while at
the same time we offer the prison population possibilities of
education and training that will help them achieve a better quality
of life for themselves and their families," ministra Martin said.
According to official data, has 26 jails with a total population of
8,000 inmates.
About 75 percent of inmates work or study, according to figures from
the ministerio de Justicia Ministry.
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