In the Table of Recommendations and Practices, each Article of the Council of Europe Recommendation (89)12 on Prison Education is included. For each of these Articles, information is collected from European Prison Services stipulating the main points of attention for each section, giving inspiration to its members and providing practices that support the implementation of the Recommendation. The table can be searched by country and by Article of the Recommendation. Countries that are not yet included are invited to submit their data and send them to [email protected] Click download below to view the table.

This report presents an analysis of a questionnaire on prison education that was administered in the spring and summer of 2018. It has been prepared by a research team based at the Scottish Centre for Crime & Justice Research (SCCJR). The questionnaire was commissioned by the Working Group on Prison Education, set up within EuroPris, and the questionnaire was distributed to numerous EuroPris members with additional support from the European Prison Education Association (EPEA). Of the 30 European countries that were invited to take part, 22 completed and returned a questionnaire, which accounts for a response rate of 73%. The main aim of the survey was to gather the information that would allow the Working Group to ‘consider the nature of prison education across Europe in respect of its compliance or ability to provide education that addresses the needs of the whole person in line with the ‘Council of Europe published Recommendations on Prison Education 1990’. The results then would be able to inform deliberation about whether and how to ‘establish minimum provision [for education in prison] and promote good practice … establish links with other interventions [with the concerted objective of] promoting better integration and coordination of key rehabilitative services’ (Working Group on Prison Education, 2018). The questionnaire comprised six sections which structure the main content of this report:

1. Education Policy and Strategy & Priorities
2. Content and Delivery of Prison Education
3. Information Technology
4. Participation Levels, and Higher Education & Distance Learning
5. The Arts
6. Vocational Training

For the past three decades, the Council of Europe (COE) Recommendation (89) 12 on Prison Education have provided the principal point of reference and generally accepted standards for custodial education services. Given the time-lapse since the adoption of the Recommendation, EuroPris and the European Prison Education Association (EPEA) decided to review the Recommendation and consider some of the principal developments in justice over the past three decades that have impacted contemporary European prison education policy. The joint EuroPris / EPEA expert group worked from 2017 to 2019 on this review on prison education. Click download below to download the review.

The General Directorate of the Corps of Prison and Court Guard kindly hosted the Education in Prison expert group in Bratislava on 18-19 September. At the meeting, the experts discussed developments in prison education in their respective jurisdictions over the past year. Additionally, CoE Recommendation on Education in Prison No. R(89)12 was discussed. To view the document, click download below.

On 18 June 2018 EuroPris held the Annual General Meeting & Conference in Johvi, Estonia that was kindly hosted by the Estonian Prison Service. During the conference, the chairs of the EuroPris expert groups presented the progress and results of their group. This session was followed up by a break-out session where participants were able to ask questions and have an interactive conversation with the experts. Click download below to view presentations from:

• ICT
• Family Relations
• Education (will be uploaded soon)
• EPIS
• Foreign Nationals in Prison and Probation
• Real Estate

Presentations from the Education in Prison expert meeting in Nicosia, Cyprus 08-09 June 2017

• Martin Zaschel (Germany Rhineland Palatinate)
• Ioana Morar (Romania)
• James King (Scotland)
• Peter Kriska (Slovakia)
• Petra Prijatelj (Slovenia)
• Tanja Klee (Germany Mecklenburg Western Pomerania)

Presentations from the Education in Prison expert meeting:

• Kathleen van de Vijver (Belgium)
• Stylianou Iakovos (Cyprus)
• Per Thrane (EPEA)
• Tamar Lisiaki (Georgia)
• Kieran Moylan (Ireland)
• Meeting Notes