The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is reporting that 45 per cent of 123 inmates and wards who sat the 2021 May/June sitting of the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC), were successful in at least one subject.

Information from the overseas examination Council indicate that 18 candidates passed one subject, 13 passed two subjects, another five candidates passed three subjects and three were successful in four subjects. A total of 13 subjects were administered to the candidates inclusive of Mathematics, English A, Social Studies, History, Principles of Business, Principles of Accounts and Human and Social Biology.

The DCS expects to receive additional successes following the January 2022 sitting, where 34 inmates from the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre sat the CSEC exams.

While the entry and practical subject fees for the 2021 CSEC Examinations were financed by the DCS at a cost of approximately $640,000, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information assisted with the funding by providing an additional $700, 000.

The DCS has a robust Rehabilitation through Education Programme that is divided into three categories; remedial studies, intermediate and advanced education. The Programme has enabled inmates and wards to matriculate from the most basic literary level to external examinations such as the CSEC Examinations.