Claudette Hamilton, Director of Juvenile Services at the Department of Correctional Services
.png)
00:00
00:00
00:00
Claudette Hamilton, addressing the Joint Select Committee on the Criminal Justice Bill on Wednesday
By Halshane Burke
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is grappling with a high rate of illiteracy among juveniles housed at its facilities.
DCS operates the Metcalfe Street Juvenile Remand Centre, South Camp Juvenile Centre for girls, Rio Cobre and Hill Top juvenile centres.
Director of Juvenile Services at the Department of Correctional Services Claudette Hamilton said more than 83 per cent of the 204 wards are illiterate.
"So we are talking about children at 17 [who are] reading at grade three and four [level]. So within the juvenile facilities, we do not place them in groups according to age, but according to academic levels. I mean, we have children, say 50% of the children at South Camp between the Correctional Order and Remand Centre has been expelled or suspended from school, has not been in a school environment for a year or two or three when they get to us."
Ms Hamilton said programmes structured for the juveniles are six, 12 or 15-week courses to get them numerate and literate.
She said teachers have been contracted to undertake instruction of the children.
"We place them in the different groups and at the different levels, we have the remedial, the intermediate and the advanced. And advance is not like what you have in the 11th grade at school. We're talking about children who are coming from grade eight and nine with the capacity to learn and are willing to learn. So those are the ones that we send up for CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate), and had they been in the regular school system, they would not have had the opportunity."
All feeds
