27-06-2022 14:58
The first class of the new training centre in Pazardzhik prison received their certificates at an official ceremony.
Among the guests at the celebration were also partners of the Programme Operator of the Justice Programme of the NFM 2014-2021 from the Norwegian Correctional Service, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security of the Kingdom of Norway, the Office of the Financial Mechanism, the Council of Europe, the Embassy of Norway and the National Coordination Unit.
Exactly 1 year after the opening of the Training Centre to support the social inclusion of prisoners after their release, 5 prisoners received their certificates of completion of the initial stage of basic education, in the presence of the prison management and guests. A total of 15 pupils were educated during this school year, and the trend is that in the next school year they will be many times more.
The alumni of the centre expressed their gratitude to their teachers “who guide them on the endless ladder of knowledge” and vowed, even on the outside, to continue to become literate “because one learns while one lives”. They had prepared letters of thanks for each of their teachers.
The training centre, which also provides retraining opportunities for prison officers, is part of the NFM 2014-2021 project “Ensuring safe and secure conditions in prisons and places of detention”.
After the reconstruction of a production workshop in the prison yard, the modern centre has eight classrooms, offices, a gymnasium, a computer room, workshops for work and qualification activities, with a training capacity of up to 96 inmates and staff. The funds for the reconstruction and equipment, amounting to BGN 461 thousand, are a grant under the Justice Programme