Assessment of the Operations of Prison Vocational Training Programmes in the Eastern States of Nigeria

This study was designed to identify those factors that will enhance the operations of the vocational training programme in the Nigerian prisons. The study was carried  out in Akwa-Ibom, Enugu and Imo States. A population of 1161 people, comprising 941 convicted ptj.soners and 98 prison instructors from nine prisons in these states and 122 ex-convicts located in different towns in these states was used for the study. A sample of 563 prison inmates and 98 instructors and 122 ex'."convicts were also used for the study. The main instrument for the study was the Prison Vocational  Training Appraisal Questionnaire (PVTAQ). Prison Instructors were specifically interviewed in their various workshops and that gave the researcher the opportunity to cross check the information obtained with the questionnaire. A total of 606 (77.4%) copies, out of the 783 copies of the questionnaire administered, were properly completed and returned, and were used for data analysis. Mean scores, percentages, t-test and analysis of variance (ANO VA) were used for data analysis.

The study revealed eight trades that are available in all the prisons studied, four criteria adequate for assigning inmates into trades and workshop space as the only facility adequately available in the Nigerian prisons. The study also identified seven
content areas, twenty-four instructional methods useful for instructions in the prison and thirteen managerial factors that can enhance the operations of the vocational training programme and the rehabilitation of prisoners on discharge.
Recommendations were made based on these findings of the study.