“
A helping hand
”: for the first time in France, detainees received computers that they will be able to use from their cells to study and obtain a diploma.
Read also: Prison cells could be equipped with computers by 2022
Nine of the 600 inmates in the Villefranche-sur-Saône (Rhône) remand center were given laptops on Friday in order to pass a diploma of access to university studies (DAEU), a national diploma equivalent to the baccalaureate , issued by the Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA).
The prisoners in the “Cell Sonata” experiment revise and wait to be given a laptop.
OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP
The objective is to allow these voluntary detainees, and selected upstream, to study from their cells, in addition to their class hours scheduled each week and supervised by teachers.
"
This experiment is a first in France
", and will allow "to
facilitate a continuity in the learning
" as well as a "
certain autonomy, essential to the reintegration
", assures Julien Velten, principal within the prison and director of the Regional Pedagogical Unit (UPR).
Read also: Prison work poorly prepares for the reintegration of detainees according to a report
With their computers, prisoners will only have access to the university interface in order to train for the exam scheduled for June and December, for which they must validate four subjects (French, modern language, and two subjects to choose from).
"Facilitate the task"
Placed in pre-trial detention or sentenced to short sentences, the students range from 21 to 45 years old.
The majority of them already have diplomas lower than the baccalaureate and will be able to access university studies thanks to the DAEU.
“
I want to open a transport company.
So I need this diploma to access the necessary training
, ”says TA, 40 years old.
"
These computers will make our job easier because a few hours of lessons per week are not enough to obtain the diploma
".
For RA, 26, this computer is “
a helping hand
” to obtain this diploma, a “
small challenge
” that he has set for himself.
“
I don't think about what I'll do next.
My goal today is above all to move forward
”.
A guard A prison guard gives a computer to an inmate in Villefranche-sur-Saône prison, in central-eastern France, April 2, 2021. Of prison OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP
This experiment, entitled “
Sonata in the cell
”, is part of a more global project aimed at integrating disadvantaged groups into the higher education system.
Registration fees are covered by the university, and the cost of computers by the Ministry of Education.
For Stéphanie Pichot, professor of history and geography with inmates, accessing these studies is first and foremost a way of "looking
beyond prison and living better in detention
".
