CHAPTER 5: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
5.6 The factors that enable or hinder PSCE at Brandvlei Correctional Centre
5.6.1 Access to the internet and books to help offenders succeed
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However, another respondent had a different opinion from FGDR10. They felt that the support was enough to challenge the offenders to pursue success. Furthermore, CORSEO2 stated that it was within the will of the offenders as there were other factors that could deter provision of support, around the clock on the education of offenders.
Matrix 5.4 Summary of the main research question or theme
Sub theme/sub question Respondent responses Source/s
Support by the education and training department
of Brandvlei
Correctional Centre
The prison officials look down upon us a lot and they really make us feel as if we do not deserve a chance to make up on our errors in life.
Sometimes they do not even provide us with the necessary learning materials and that deters our desire to learn and become better for ourselves.
FGDR10
The support is enough to challenge the offenders to push to success. FGDR12
It is within the will of the offenders as there are other factors that could deter provision of support around the clock on the education of offenders.
CORSEO2
Overall, these results provide an important insight into the justification of PSCE at the Brandvlei Correctional Centre. The statistics show that there was a high desire for the offenders to study and thus a need to improve on support provision at the Brandvlei Correctional Centre.
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asked if they had access to the internet and books to help them succeed in their studies. Figure 5.12 gives an overview of the responses.
Figure 5.12: Offenders access to the internet and books
Figure 5.12 shows that 37.5% of the respondents strongly agreed that they had access to the internet and books at the Brandvlei Correctional Centre, while the majority of the respondents (50.0%) agreed with the statement. The minority of the respondents (12.5%) had a neutral response to the question of having access to the internet and books at the correctional centre. What is interesting about the data, is that the majority of the respondents agreed that the centre was doing everything in their power to ensure that the offenders were accessing the necessary resources for them to succeed academically. There was general consensus amongst the respondents that the facility provided them with the necessary learning materials to ensure their success. FGDR16 said:
I would not want to say that all has been bad in our learning. The prison education department has ensured that we have the required learning material for our reading and knowledge attainment. However, one would not be sufficed with having that only without an explanation of content.
Further to that, FGDR3 reiterated that as learners at Brandvlei, unlike other correctional centres, they had access to internet sites that had to do with their learning. However, there were restrictions to the sites one could visit, and many felt this was an unnecessary restriction, as they wanted to explore further on learning opportunities. FGDR13 further went on to say:
37.5
50.0
12.5 0.0
10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral
Percentage
I have access to the internet and books
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Red tape for me is a challenge, for example there are a lot of rules around access to resources and some of the resources I need to succeed in my studies are available but I cannot access them because of prison rules, there are a lot of walls that are in place that are preventing one to access a few necessary resources that I would have personally appreciated to continue with my studies.
Matrix 5.5 Summary of the main research question or theme
Sub theme/sub question Respondent responses Source/s
Access to the internet and books to help offenders succeed
I would not want to say that all has been bad in our learning. The prison education department has ensured that we have the required learning material for our reading and knowledge attainment. However, one would not be sufficed with having that only without an explanation of content.
FGDR16
Red tape for me is a challenge, for example there are a lot of rules around access to resources and some of the resources I need to succeed in my studies are available but I cannot access them because of prison rules, there are a lot of walls that are in place that are preventing one to access a few necessary resources that I would have personally appreciated to continue with my studies.
FGDR3
It appeared that there were many rules around obtaining access to the resources needed for aiding their studies. Document analysis revealed that access to books and the internet was found through the UNISA website, in a formal education partnership between UNISA and DCS. The documents stated that the Department established DCS-UNISA Hubs in 2014 (2013/14 DCS Annual Report).
These centres provided regulatory support to offenders studying via UNISA in different correctional facilities in South Africa. This incorporates access to laptops with internet access, UNISA library materials, tutorial exercises and online submission of assignments. This establishment was yielding positive results.
Data obtained from the Brandvlei Coordinator through interviews revealed that each offender was obligated to sign a declaration of indemnity form stating that they bound themselves to follow the regulations of the UNISA Hub. The regulations included having an identity card in their possession
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at all times. The findings showed that the centre had to ensure optimal utilisation of resources in terms of offenders’ participation in the same education programme. Every DCS centre had to ensure that formal programmes were provided as outlined in the comprehensive framework for formal education programmes, taking into consideration available human resources and infrastructure.