Special Education in New Bell Prison.

Some inmates have sat for some public who schooled in special education learning of which some succeeded and some did not..

The site is sorrowful and brings a lot of reflections in ones mind when you get into the new bell prison in Douala. Sometimes one even comes back from the prison yard sick because of the misery you see. The situation is even terrible when you get to the minors and you ask yourself what really happened to this little lad that he finds himself here. One will wonder for how long he will stay locked in there while society is advancing.
It is said that the prison is to reform and not to kill, so an obligatory educational system has been put in place to reform the inmates so that by the time they leave prison they will not be lacking in all aspects.
First of all it is believed when the inmates come to prison they have a psychological problem which has to be first handled that is the issue of defiance behaviour , that is why their education does not follow the mainstream education, though they follow the curriculum. Their system of grading too is different.
Talking to the Director in Charge of Rehabilitation and Special Education in the New Bell Prison, Donfack Louis, he said there are some people who come to prison and they do not even known how to write their names. He said it is in prison they come to start studying. The minors he said are all registered and the majors out of about 4000 inmates only about a hundred are registered.
Donfack has been an instructor in the new bell prison for eight years now and he mentioned to CT some short comings to this education in New Bell prison. He said there is a lack of trained personnel for the job and also a lot of association sends quack lecturers who just come to confuse the inmates. He added that there is a lack of specialised material giving an example if a psycho-test which can help to determine the level of the inmate so as to know the level to which he will place him. Donfack also mentioned the lack of material infrastructure, but thanks to the 10 benches which has just been supplied and given by the catholic association after many years of crying to the government. But the space is not enough and tired.
The instructor said since 2001 they have had up to 50 inmates who have sat for public exams and some have succeeded while others have not made it. During this time the guard does not dress in uniform so as not to cause confusion. Only the guard and invigilator as well as the candidate know what is happening.
As expectations Donfack said prisons should be designed taking into cognisance special education for minors. Also universities should involve prison education to train more teachers.
EFFA TAMBENKONGHO