d) Providing work The prisons and remote units must provide prisoners (including remand prisoners) with the opportunity to work. During our visit to Ig Prison, Ljubljana Prison – the Novo mesto Unit, and Koper Prison, we recommended (again) that the institution put more effort into providing all prisoners (including remand prisoners) with the opportunity to work. We emphasised that work contributes to social rehabilitation and positively affects an individual’s psychological condition and satisfaction, while also altering the experience of time and providing a sense of usefulness. In the majority of cases, the Prison Administration explained that the prisons and remote units were trying to provide work to as many prisoners as possible (including remand prisoners, where possible) Work is provided also in public service agencies, i.e. in housekeeping, where a specific number of positions is determined for each prison and unit. With regard to the employment of remand prisoners, there are problems associated with the indefinite duration of detention on remand, as a number of available positions require a specific period of time in order to acquire experience and meet the required work standard. e) Ensuring inclusion in education The prisons and their remote units must ensure that prisoners are given the possibility to be included in education (formal and non-formal). We therefore recommended to Ljubljana Prison – the Novo mesto Unit and Koper Prison that more effort be invested in ensuring the possibility of being included in education. With regard to Ljubljana Prison – the Novo mesto Unit, the Prison Administration said that an elementary school for adults had been introduced in October 2015 and was implemented twice a week until 27 June 2016, when the programme had temporarily ended due to problems with the provider. Financial resources for the education of prisoners have been provided by Novo Mesto Development and Education Centre, which obtained the funds from public tenders. A Lifelong Learning programme is being regularly implemented by the same centre. Every Friday, two school hours are allocated, alternating between prisoners and remand prisoners, to workshops on different subjects (creative workshops, discussions, travelogues, workshops associated with holidays, learning about a healthy lifestyle, etc.). Education provided outside the unit takes place in the Centre. Computer literacy programmes are offered throughout the year and workshops are held twice a week for two hours. In 2016, 22 prisoners joined computer literacy classes. The prisoners also attend travelogue lectures at Miran Jarc Library in Novo mesto. With regard to Koper Prison, the Prison Administration explained that they would continue to ensure the opportunity to join various programmes of formal and non-formal education as far as possible to as many prisoners as possible, and would continue establishing connections with outsourced institutions and other organisations. They would also try to ensure the latter to remand prisoners; however, the problem with providing education is that courses last for several weeks and regular attendance is required, which remand prisoners may not be able to complete as the court decides on the cancellation of remand, start of serving a sentence, etc. Now that a position for a psychologist has been formulated, in the future they would study the possibility of organising a weekly or fortnightly group (a small group, the same as that for prisoners) for remand prisoners for various creative workshops or themed meetings. They will continue trying to organise as many leisure and sports activities as possible, as they are aware of the positive effect of such activities on prisoners. In this respect, they would continue to establish connections with various sports associations and other organisations. In September 2017, they were expecting the arrival of the Kings of the Street football team. They still try to organise competitions between prisoners and remand prisoners at least once a month, as such events have been well accepted. f) Healthcare The visits to Ig Prison and Koper Prison were also attended by the NPM’s medical expert, who checked the provision of healthcare to prisoners. The NPM’s medical expert established that the provision of healthcare to prisoners in the prisons visited was satisfactory. The doctor established one significant deficiency: medication is distributed by judicial police officers. During the visits to Ig Prison and Koper Prison, it was recommended that the recommendation by the NPM’s medical expert to ensure permanent on-call medical staff in the institution’s clinics, as is typical in healthcare services, be considered. The 92 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE NPM IN 2017 NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM UNDER THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT