Steven Klukowski
KEETMANSHOOP-Inmates from the Keetmanshoop Correctional Facility demonstrated their meaningful willingness for the betterment of society.
Do show this, they renovated at no cost damaged school desks and chairs which they handed over to the //Kharas Education Directorate in Keetmanshoop last week.
Delivering his speech, //Kharas Regional Director of Education /Awebahe //Hoeseb emphasised that the only cost incurred to repair the school furniture was that for the procurement of materials and equipment.
He continued that this was the third of three consignments of repaired school furniture received with the first part being handed over on 3 June 2018. The regional director further expressed hope that this project will inspire inmates “to succeed in their quest for finding their footing upon their release from prison and avoid going back to a life of crime.”
//Hoeseb then raised the concern that much more furniture could have been repaired had it not been for the cumbersome procurement process when purchasing materials and equipment. “The regional management committee of the Directorate of Education, Arts and Culture is proud to be part and parcel of this initiative that is geared towards the renovation of school furniture, whilst it simultaneously serves the purpose of transferring vocational skills to inmates,” he said.
//Hoeseb added that this project of the repair of school furniture by the inmates is indeed a very vital investment since they (inmates) will gain carpentry and woodwork skills in the process that can come in handy once released. In addition, he reasoned that it will “prepare inmates through technical and vocational skills training for reintegration in society life upon release in order become employable, employ others and start possible businesses.”
The education director expressed the directorate’s profound gratitude towards the Keetmanshoop Correctional Facility for making it (directorate) an integral part of a very critical process geared towards transitioning of inmates into the mainstream society.
A total of 221 desks and 152 chairs has been renovated and handed over since the inception of this project. There are however still 295 frames of desks and 95 chair frames at the premises of the directorate of education that needs to be repaired by the inmates.