Myths about prisoner training - more deceitful statistics.

In her latest press release, Judith Collins claims that:

 “There are now record numbers of prisoners engaged in employment and education within our prisons.”

Sure - but most of them are doing menial jobs like cleaning, laundry and gardening.

 “We have also seen much better Maori participation rates across the board as a result of the strategy.”

Sure - but there are disproportionately too many Maori in prison – in fact 50% of prisoners are Maori but they make up only 15% of the population. There's no improvement in those statistics.

 “The research found that the rate of reconviction within 12 months of a prisoner’s release reduced by 16.7 percent for those who participated in the Release to Work Programme.”

Sure - but only about 100 prisoners a year are in that programme – when 20,000 New Zealanders end up in prison each year. So that’s not much help.

 “The number of prisoners receiving literacy and numeracy training as part of other employment and training activities has increased from 166 to 620, which is a 273 percent increase.”

Sure – but in 2010, tutors reported that only 9% passed. That’s only 55 prisoners.

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." ~Mark Twain, 1904.

To get the real low down (and more meaningful statistics) on what's happening in New Zealand prisons read the critically acclaimed book by Roger Brooking: Flying Blind - How the justice system perpetuates crime and the Corrections Department fails to correct