GDIN staff on placement at the KRUS staff training academy and the Directorate of the Norwegian Correctional Service in Norway

08-09-2022 16:33

The exchange of experience through internships for employees of the Directorate General for the Execution of Punishments General Directorate (GDIN) at the KRUS Staff Training Academy and the Directorate of the Norwegian Correctional Service KDI took place in the period 22.08 - 02.09.2022 in the Kingdom of Norway. The visit is part of the activity under the project “Enhancing the capacity of the prison staff, building a pilot prison facility connected to a training centre and improving the rehabilitation of prisoners” of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021.   

Representatives from the International Cooperation and Staff Training Department and staff from the Pleven Training Centre visited Mandal Prison, Solholmen Transitional Unit in Kristiansand, Ona Prison, the University College of Norwegian Correctional Service and the Directorate for International Cooperation of the Norwegian Correctional Service.

The officials from Mondal, Ona and Solholmen prisons introduced the Bulgarian participants to the structure of the prisons and the half way house. The good practices of the Norwegian experts and the implementation of the staff training programmes were presented, with a view to their implementation in the activities of the respective departments in the DGIN. The main areas of activity at the University College of Norwegian Correctional Service and the Norwegian Correctional Service Directorate for International Cooperation, the main processes of selection, training and mentoring of future Norwegian Correctional Service employees were also presented.

During the internship, the GDIN officers had the opportunity to become acquainted with the practical application of dynamic security and the methodology by which the Norwegian officers are trained.

At the same time, meetings were held with the participation of the Director General of the DGIN, Chief Commissioner Ivaylo Yordanov, as the project manager of the project “Enhancing the capacity of prison staff, building a pilot prison facility, connected to a training center and improving the rehabilitation of prisoners”, project experts from the DGIN and Norwegian experts, where the progress of the project was discussed and the schedule for the implementation of the activities was updated.