The Carrera Island Prison had a special day last Friday when 30 inmates graduated under the Youth Training Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP) in collaboration with the Prison Service of the Ministry of National Security.

Two certificate courses in domestic appliance repairs and plant propagation, which spanned the academic year 1998-1999, were offered.

Over the past five years, prison authorities have been using the Carrera facility to model its pilot programmes using education as a factor in rehabilitation.

Over the past three years, more than 200 inmates have benefited directly from these efforts. That amounts to 33 percent of Carrera's prison population. Of these 200 inmates, 75 have successfully graduated at the school leaving level, attaining full certificates and six are now qualified tailors, obtaining National Certificates from John Donaldson Technical Institute.

Carrera continues to make inroads, so much so that this year 20 out of 23 graduated from the CXC class with passes in both English and Mathematics and all 24 have achieved full passes in the School Leaving Examination, where over 50 percent got distinctions.

Selwyn Newton, one of the career enhancement tutors, recounted for friends, relatives and inmates what his experience has been like as a tutor in the prison environment, going so far as to mention that he noticed that prison officers do not smile.

"Could it be that they have the second most stressful job and that they are not paid in commensurate with that portfolio?" Newton asked.

That statement was met with loud cheers as Newton added: "When officers do not smile that feeling is transferred to the inmates and they end up not smiling also."

Newton, who said he is known for speaking his mind and calls it as it is, recalled he was given a class of 40 inmates. When he met them they were very serious and he compared them to stale bread, saying that he took them with a quest to make bread pudding out of them.

The instructor ended by saying that he will always be willing to work with the men at Carrera because there is hope, but someone has to take the time.