However, there is a section of the prison population, though admittedly a minority, which encounters difficulties of access to education. These are persons who desire to follow courses of higher education. Article D435 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which states that prisoners “shall acquire or develop the knowledge which they will need after their release, with a view to better adaptation to society” should also apply to them. These difficulties are in the first place of a material nature due to the prohibition of Internet in prison, whereas enrolment in universities and schools of higher education takes place exclusively by means of this channel and course materials are also made available to students in IT format. This situation can only be remedied with the help of the RLE and the goodwill of the head of the institution. More than three years after the Opinion issued by the CGLPL concerning access to IT for prisoners, we can only note that the problem of Internet access in prison 20 remains in its entirety and penalises effective access to education, and to higher education in particular. The obstacles encountered are also of a financial order insofar as enrolment in universities and schools of higher education and the purchase of indispensable books is expensive. Indeed, prisoners were expressly excluded from the benefit of grants for higher education according to social criteria by the annual circulars governing award thereof 21 and from emergency grants intended for students in difficulty 22. They had no other option than to seek grants from foundations organising rehabilitation initiatives aimed at prisoners, provided that they were informed thereof. By means of a letter of 14th March 2014 sent to the Ministry of Higher Education and Research the Contrôleur Général set out a recommendation in favour of the abolition of this express exclusion of prisoners, in view of the following arguments: 20 - Grants for higher education awarded according to social criteria are intended to help students from the least privileged social backgrounds in order to “re-establish social mobility and enable access to knowledge and employment” 23. Yet, access to higher education undeniably constitutes a guarantee of rehabilitation of prisoners. - In 2013, the prisons administration estimated that a quarter of the prison population was affected by social precarity. At the time of its visits, the CGLPL specifically assesses the scale of difficulties connected to the situation of prisoners’ poverty. Furthermore, it is difficult to choose between pursuing higher education and exercising paid employment. - The a priori exclusion of prisoners from grant schemes does not appear to be justified by any objective difference in their situation with regard to the goals pursued and the objective of reduction of social inequalities, as established by article L821-1 of the Code of Education (Code de l’éducation), in particular. - Finally, in view of the number of persons pursuing higher educational studies in prison, it does not appear that the allocation of financial aid would constitute an In the Opinion of 20th June 2011, the CGLPL recommended controlled access to Internet: in a dedicated area under the control of a third party and/or a member of staff and access restricted to certain websites. 21 Since the start of the 2011 academic year, persons having the benefit of partial release have been able to receive higher educational grants when they meet the award criteria under ordinary law. 22 This involves personalised financial aid to students in difficulty, when they do not meet at least one of the conditions imposed by the regulations for higher educational grants awarded according to social criteria. 23 Public declarations by Mrs FIORASO, Minister of Higher Education and Research. 34