The inmates of Nasinu Training Centre posed for a photo with their certificates after thecertificate presentation. The program is run and facilitated by the Pacific ChristianTeachers  Mission for the rehabilitation of offenders. 

The Prisons and Correction Service new direction is the rehabilitation and training of inmates, moving away from the confinement system to containment.

The program was conducted at Nasinu Training Centre an institution where young and first offenders are accommodated, selected and well behave inmates are also staying at the centre. There are five basic laws of learning on which the program is built.

Students must be at the levels where they can perform. Before beginning the program a simple diagnostic test is administered to see exactly where the student can be placed on the program, areas that need to be concerned or gaps that were missed in his previous years at school with the need to be attended to before the program proper flows. Infect, the course of study is individualized to meet a students specific needs and learning capabilities.

1. As the student progress he learns to set reasonable or achievable goals example three pages today, four pages tomorrow. He is then held accountable. What is not completed is given for home work. Teaching the character trait "accountable" and also giving lessons in time management.
   
2. Students need to work in a well controlled environment and they need to be motivated rather than having a single text book a years prescription is broken down in to 12 bite sized books so a student completes a book, reviews his work, sits a test and scores a pass mark of 80% or above.
   
3. The learning must be measurable. As mentioned the book test records whether the student is really for the main test before it is administered. Maintaining records of tests is an important part of the program to gauge progress.
   
4. Finally, the learning must be rewarded. For students who have over a period of time managed to maintain their target for one month, they are given some small prize or incentives.

The five (5) subjects that are target in the program are Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, English and Bible Reading. For the 2007 school year 13 inmates participated in the program and 7 of them managed to complete their paces and courses and graduated with certificates. The rest of the inmates will be completing their paces in the 2008 school year.



Inmates Prepare For Creative Writing Competition

It is now all go for the Creative Writing competition. After a break of over three months, coordinator Mary Daya has assured that she will see the classes and competition through.

Ms Daya is combining classes to ensure that the inmates are properly guided before they submit entries. Three prisons in Naboro – Minimum, Medium and Pre-Release – have had joint classes over a week. Participants in the creative writing class from Suva Prison were taken to Nasinu Prison for joint classes over three days.

Ms Daya who is being assigned by the University of the South Pacific says the closing of entries would be over three weeks from August 7 to August 22. For two consecutive Tuesdays participants from Suva, Nasinu, Medium, Pre-Release and Minimum are having joint classes at Minimum Prison.

The Creative Writing Competition and the Art Gallery will be the centrepiece of the YELLOW RIBBON PROJECT launch on October 11, 2008. There will be categories in short stories, poetry, letter writing, children’s stories and post card writing and design in the Creative Writing Competition. The winning entries and selected pieces will be compiled into a book while will also be available at the Yellow Ribbon launch.

The Art Gallery is being set up with the assistance of the Fiji Arts Council. The inmates of the Suva Prison who have been tutored in oil painting will be displaying and selling their finished pieces at the launch. – August 07, 2008.