and competence training, aggression-management, addiction therapy, individual and
group therapy, physical education and sport.
Juvenile convicts participated in a series of recreational and educational activities in
2014. However, there are prisoners who do not participate in any of these activities.
For instance, as one of the inmates stated s/he has never expressed willingness to
engage in the activities, nor has the social service offered him/her any rehabilitation
or other programme.
A standard minimum rule for the treatment of prisoners specifies that juvenile
education should be obligatory and authorities of an institution must pay special
attention to its administration. According to the rule so far as practicable the education
of prisoners shall be integrated with the education system of the country so that after
their release they may continue their education without difficulty.167
According to Article 35 of the Constitution of Georgia ‘everyone shall have the right
to education and the right to free choice of a form of education. Article 7, Paragraph
4 of the Law of Georgia on General Education obliges the state to ‘provide general
education in penitentiary institutions in compliance with the rules set out in the
Imprisonment Code’ while Article 14, I part, Paragraph B the Imprisonment Code
states that ‘an accused/convict shall have the right to receive general and vocational
education’.
There is a school at the Institution N11 affiliated with one of Tbilisi’s general schools.
The school implements a sub-programme of general education for juveniles. The
programme provides opportunities for juveniles to not only complete general
education through equivalency examinations but also to obtain a certificate (attestat)
after passing attestation examinations. The school premise, which is a separate
building, also homes library and a social workers’ office. The programme covers all
12 grades with maximum 5 thirty minute classes a day. There is a five minute break
between the classes. The difference in the schedule is to prevent juveniles form
overburdening with schooling. Considering the fact that attendance to classes are
voluntary, the administration tries to develop certain incentives to encourage juveniles
to undertake the programme. The teachers focus more on getting students do core
tasks and do not oblige them to do homework. There were 27 registered students by
the end of the reporting period. Unlike Institution 11, general education programmes
running in Institutions 8 and 2 are not affiliated to any public schools and therefore, no
document certifying the completion of the programme is issued. The main objective of
the programmes offered by these institutions is to ensure continuity of the education
process as long as a juvenile has a status of a convict. As a result, the offenders do not
demonstrate strong interests towards the programme and often skip classes.
It is worth noting that juvenile prisoners often face problems when it comes to the
enrollment in classes as it entails a series of procedures and requires parent’s active
167 The Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, Rule 77
NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM OF GEORGIA
133
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