Collaborations in the Provision of Education and Vocational Training Programmes to Young Offenders: Stories of Best Practices in Malawi

Abstract

Correctional services in most developing countries are not adequately resourced by governments for the educational and vocational training needs of inmates regardless of the obligation put on countries by the Nelson Mandela Rules. There is a need for support from other social organisations to bridge the resource gaps for the offenders’ rehabilitation. This chapter utilises the lived experiences of the formerly incarcerated young people collected using the descriptive phenomenological qualitative research design to explore the impact of the corrections and non-governmental organisations’ collaborations in the provision of education and vocational training programmes to the incarcerated young people in Malawi. The key findings revealed that even though there were minimal NGOs and corrections collaborations in Malawi, the support provided by various non-governmental organisations on the young offenders’ education and vocational training was perceived as essential for the continuity and effectiveness of those programmes.