prisoners’ admission to preparatory examination, disqualifying prisoners who
have made two or more violations of discipline when serving their sentence
and those who have made a violation within one year of their application.
Given this, there have been some prisoners who wish to continue their
education but have been denied the opportunity. After investigation and
follow-up by the Control Yuan, the Agency of Corrections sent a decree to the
schools in various prisons on January 11, 2018, demanding that as of the 2018
school year, their admissions policy should be amended by excluding only
those who are reprimanded within the last six months prior to their application
for admission. This would relax the admissions qualification to some extent,
still encourage prisoners to keep up proper behavior, and provide them with
fair learning opportunities.
74.
The practices adopted by the Ministry of Justice, its Agency of Corrections,
and the Ministry of Education with respect to Juvenile Reform School failed
to satisfy the requirements laid out in the Constitution and Educational
Fundamental Act, namely “All citizens should have equal opportunity to
receive an education” and “Special protection should be given to
disadvantaged groups,” as they excluded the inmates’ education in juvenile
correctional institutions from the basic education system and instead set up
supplementary schools tied with vocational programs. These practices also
deviate from the general educational system, which results in students detained
by juvenile correctional institutions being unable to acquire a diploma for
senior high school. As many as 57.3% of the juveniles faced being set back a
grade or had to change their major after their release. Many, when transferring
to normal schools or seeking recognition of educational level, are rejected
from resuming their studies, set back a grade, forced to go back to school, or
unable to advance their studies, and even suspended from their schooling.
These students’ interests and rights were thus severely damaged. Upon
investigation and follow-up by the Control Yuan, the Ministry of Justice and
Ministry of Education set up the “Juvenile Correctional Education Steering
Committee” to incorporate the juvenile reform school under their range of
supervision.
75.
According to survey, 61.43% of the students in juvenile reform schools were
willing to seek employment, and more than 80% aim to attend vocational
training programs after being released. As 70% of the detained students come
from disadvantaged families, it is therefore more important for them to learn
vocational skills than it is for general students. This signifies the high demand
for vocational training by students detained in the juvenile reform schools.
However, the vocational training programs organized by these institutions
have an insufficient array of subjects and are out of touch with the real world.
This becomes a disadvantage to students who wish to advance their studies or
make an independent living after release. The Agency of Corrections should
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