An Evaluation Of Effectiveness Of Prison Education In Lagos State

Abstract

The study evaluated prison education in Lagos State, examining the factors, appropriateness and adequacy of the curricula with regard to motivating the inmates to learn the use of appropriate methods, adequacy of learning and teaching materials, effects of funding on the advancement of prison education goals and the types of prison education available, and proposed measures for making the prison education system in Lagos State more goal-oriented. The study population consisted of inmates, welfare officers, supervisors and instructors in the prison in Lagos State. Prison records revealed that the total population of inmates was four thousand, four hundred and twenty-one (4421) and that of officials, seven hundred and fifty (750). In all, six hundred and fifty-four (654) inmates and officials were selected using the stratified sampling techniques. Subjects were those who had spent at least two years in jail and had not less than three years more to stay in prison to complete their terms and were attending at least one of the prison educational programmes. With this sampling criterion, two samples of four hundred and fifty (450) officials and two hundred and four (204) were selected for the study, using the tables of random numbers. Seven hypotheses were tested and the results show that: Types of prison education in the State were found to satisfy the learning interests of the inmates 44.194, PS 0.05) and that Officials' relationship with inmates has influence on inmates learning ( = 281.284, p< 0.05).

Also, the curricula of prison education in Lagos State prisons was found to make positive impact on the needs of prisoners - 41.967, p< 0.05) while no significant relationship was found between methods of teaching and inmates' perception of teaching requirements for learning effectiveness ( - 100.706, p0.05) while inmates were being motivated to learn through the stated policy on education X41.623, p< 0.05). Moreover, funding of education was found to be inadequate to impact sufficiently on the achievement of prison education objectives and measures applied to remedy the defects and limitations of prison education seemed not to have significant effect on the achievement of projected goals and objectives of prison education(r=0.070, p>0.05).