Fife College has been awarded the £22 million contract to provide learning and skills to prisoners throughout Scotland.
The Scottish Prison Service has chosen the college to provide the first national learning and skills contract which will be delivered across all 13 SPS publicly owned prisons over the next five years.
One of the key strengths of the new contract is said to be the development of themed and project based learning relating to everyday life to help build the confidence of learners.
The college has a strong track record of working with the service, with a long history of supporting learners and is proud of what has been achieved in partnership over the past 17 years.
The new partnership contract will see Fife College work with more than 3,500 prisoners a month in a range of programmes.
Courses on offer range from basic literacy and numeracy through to formal qualifications.
Fife College will also provide support for prisoners who have learning difficulties and disabilities.
The contract will employ 130 dedicated staff based in learning centres within the 13 prisons throughout Scotland.
Fife College principal Hugh Hall is delighted it has won this first national learning and skills contract for SPS.
“At Fife College we very much believe that education can transform lives and we are therefore committed to working with partner organisations such as SPS to support them to achieve their vision while widening opportunities for all.
“The prison environment presents a number of challenges for educators as we take into account the complex needs of the prisoner populations, mix of abilities, backgrounds and length and type of sentences.
“We are very pleased to have won this contract to deliver learning and skills in Scotland’s prisons and that our track record and innovative plans to maximise resources and benefit learners proved the right fit for the needs of the SPS.”
A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson added: “Fife College has a well-established track record in working in prisons across Scotland.
“They have been responsible for a wide range of innovative and exciting initiatives that have been of significant benefit to those in our care.
“We look forward to this new chapter in our relationship with the college.”
