Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) has provided means by which minors under its custody at Asseyri Prison in Himmafushi, Kaafu Atoll, can continue their studies during the upcoming academic year.
Commissioner of Prisons Ahmed Mohamed said MCS is preparing to provide the opportunity for minors under its custody to continue their studies at the start of the new academic year on August 7. MCS has established a 20-student classroom at the juvenile detention centre in Himmafushi.
The work is being conducted as part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between MCS and the Ministry of Education on July 6. The MoU dictates that the correctional service facilitate studies for minors under its custody with assistance from a local school near their detention centre. It also requires an academic assessment to be made on the minors by local school teachers after a month of the minor’s transfer to the detention centre. It further requires the relevant authorities to prepare individual learning plans for each minor as well as formulate a plan to continue their studies for the remainder of their detention. Additionally, MCS is required to pay the allowances of the teachers as well as provide them with security and present the minors to classes and procure the items they need for their studies.
MCS has been working to guarantee the rights provided to minors under its custody, which included establishing the Asseyri Prison’s juvenile detention centre in January. MCS has numerous minors involved in various types of crimes in its custody.