Editorial: Prison literacy success

MP for Tukituki, Craig Foss, congratulates a Hawke's Bay Prison inmate on achieving literacy success. Photo / Duncan Brown

Very often the popular view on prisoners is that they have been let out too soon, the justice system has failed or that they need to be punished more.

This sometimes even relates to people who, in the grand scale of things, have committed fairly low-level misdeeds.

"Lock them up and throw away the key," is a common cry.

Now this is not to excuse those people who deserve to spend a long time behind bars and certainly there is common belief that there are some criminals who cannot be rehabilitated.

But there are many who can and are. It is good to be able to tell those stories as well and thanks to the New Zealand Howard League, a Hawke's Bay Today reporting team was allowed to go to Hawke's Bay Regional Prison to see some inmates receive achievement awards for literacy in a special ceremony yesterday.

The MP for Tukituki, Craig Foss, was on hand to present the successful inmates with certificates.

The New Zealand Howard League has done great work with its literacy programmes for prisoners and as the league's chief executive, Mike Williams, said, Hawke's Bay Regional Prison was "miles ahead" of others across the country in raising the literacy numbers among inmates.

This is such good news, because someone who can read and write will have a much better chance of integration back into society. The league also helps these prisoners get jobs once their time inside is up.

Roger Moroney's story on page nine really captured the emotion of the moment when a 50-year-old man became the 48th inmate to receive the award, which was set up at the prison five years ago.

It is times like this when you realise that rehabilitation does sometimes work and all it needs is organisations and people who care.