Minister to visit Hawkes Bay and Tongariro-Rangipo prisons   22 Apr 2015

Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga

21 APRIL, 2015

Minister to visit Hawkes Bay and Tongariro-Rangipo prisons

Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga will tomorrow visit two regional prisons to see first-hand how initiatives are helping prisoners with rehabilitation as they prepare for life after release.

“As we focus on our goal of reducing reoffending by 25 per cent by 2017, it is essential that all prisons become working prisons and that prisoners are able to access the education, training and work experience they need to participate successfully in their community when they are released,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

“Education and skills are essential to improving prisoners’ chances of success, as well as building their self-esteem and sense of worth. This in turn will have a positive effect on their families, wider communities and their workplaces.”

Mr Lotu-Iiga will visit Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison where among the education and training programmes being offered, young prisoners are learning about bee-keeping.

The youths involved in the programme extracted their second honey crop in March. As well as learning everything about bee-keeping and honey production, they are now working on marketing strategies as part of literacy and numeracy education.

The prison provides catering training to give young prisoners life skills to help them on release. A National Certificate in Catering is also offered to adult prisoners on the site.

In other new initiatives, the prison is looking forward to rolling out the Secure Online Learning programme in May. This programme will allow some prisoners to access restricted and secure education and training websites.

In March, the Eastern Institute of Technology also began delivering Level 2 in Maori Studies to prisoners and Corrections staff.

Corrections recently spent $4 million on a new receiving office for the prison and work is underway on other building improvements such as new accommodation units and covering the exercise yards.

Mr Lotu-Iiga will also visit Tongariro-Rangipo Prison tomorrow where Corrections is spending more than $30 million on improving the facilities, including the creation of a trade training facility, new gatehouse, staff facilities, visitor centre, transit station and perimeter fence.

The trade training facility includes four industry workshops. There is also a farm training facility which includes two classrooms, livestock sheds and access to the farm.

Tongariro-Rangipo has been a working prison since early last year, with a focus on farming and forestry.

Some prisoners at Tongariro-Rangipo are taking part in a farming course onsite which offers a large number of Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications.

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