The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic as a challenge leading to change in the formal secondary education of convicts
Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic affected the operation of the entire prison service.
Due to the danger posed by this disease in a greater concentration of people, several internal measures determined by the anti-epidemiological commission were taken. At a time when all schools were closed, the school for convicts was an exception. The form of education was determined by the prison service according to the current epidemiological situation. Online distance education could not be implemented for preventive security reasons. However, measures taken in prisons during the pandemic can significantly contribute to accelerating the modernization of teaching methods that are a common part of mature prison education systems. The theoretical study presents the number and composition of persons serving a prison sentence, and the possibilities of their education with reference to the relevant legislation. It highlights the importance of such education in the overall resocialization of punished individuals. It describes the course of prison education in the Czech Republic during the Covid-19 pandemic and points out the negative aspects caused by distance learning. At the very end, the paper introduces the pilot project of educating convicts in the form of e-learning, which brings a fundamental turning point in the education of persons serving a sentence in the Czech Republic