PRISON SYSTEMS AND EDUCATION OF YOUNG ADULTS IN THE CONTEXT OF IMPRISONMENT IN PORTUGAL

Abstract

The access to knowledge, namely through education and training, as an agent of social and digital inclusion is on the list of priorities of several international organisms and the concern with minority groups, such as the prison population, is an unavoidable reality. In this respect, the literature has also been clear in demonstrating how education is crucial in meeting the needs of those on the edge of social exclusion, at risk and vulnerable. This will be a way to increase social justice and reduce discrimination by attending education and training courses. This text seeks to make a brief historical revisitation of the educational activity in prisons in Portugal, with special emphasis on the recent initiative developed by the Portuguese Open University, in partnership with the General Directorate of Reinsertion and Prison Services, related to the creation of the Educonline@pris Virtual Campus, which is an academy for training and digital education. Pedagogically based on the model of this institution, we also present the design of a training program that will be developed in a Portuguese prison for young adult inmates in the area of skills and digital citizenship.