Prisoners involved in maintaining the grounds at the Otago Corrections Facility will soon be offered the chance to study towards formal horticultural qualifications to increase their chances of a new career after their time behind bars.
The introduction of training opportunities for prisoners who helped with the upkeep of prison grounds started this week and would be available to Otago prison inmates soon, the Department of Corrections said, although it could not say when.
The department's corrections inmate employment body has been working with the horticulture industry on a scheme for inmates.
The CIE national manager, grounds and asset maintenance, Dawn Benefield, said prisoners would be able to study towards a national certificate in horticulture (levels 1 and 2). Prisoners working in nurseries or organic gardens at various prisons can already study towards those qualifications.
The Otago prison has 14 prisoners working on its grounds and all of them will be offered the chance to gain formal skills.
