Open and Distance Education: Reformation and Rehabilitation of Inmates

The most cost-effective form of rehabilitation is education .Today, most inmates are released with little hope for reintegration into the society. They go back to the communities unskilled and uneducated to compete in an ever advanced technological society, for this reason, many prisoners at discharge are soon re-convicted and brought back because they have not been successful at finding gainful employment nor with picking up with their interrupted social lives. Due to the flexible nature of open Distance learning it has the potential to enhance both employment opportunities and inmates’ ability to function socially in the society. It is against this background that this study was embarked upon to establish the rationale for rehabilitating prison inmates through Open and Distance learning and how best this can be done to enable them acquire skills and lifelong learning thereby becoming good citizens of benefit to the society. This paper reflects critically on the role of open and distance learning in the rehabilitating process and discusses the benefits inmates can derive from Open and Distance Education .The paper ends with some suggestions on the way forward.Keywords: Open and Distance Learning, Reformation, Rehabilitation, Inmates, Reintegration, Lifelong Learning