Nowadays, Prison Education constitutes a descriptor of the correctional institutional treatment applied to the systems of all western civilisation countries, thus, being an integral part when planning the policymaking of correctional politics which respect education as a human right. It is expected to play a reformative role in the prisoners’ preparation to return to society, contributing immensely to the creation of contexts that are going to provide inmates with the proper tools, the opportunities for spiritual stimulation and evolution, as well as with constructive utilisation of the time they spend incarcerated.
In the case of young inmates, these contexts are considered even more important and absolutely essential, since they implement the inmates’ imperative need to disengage themselves from crime, and to reform. Hence, in most European countries, the education of young offenders is considered mandatory and operates within contexts similar to those of “outside” schools attended by people their age. Based on this notion, the education structures which operate in Prisons for Minors and Young Offenders in our country apply the structures of formal education and follow the curriculum allocated to each grade of education.
At the same time, though, these structures comprise notable and distinct school units, concerning both the functional and organisational conditions that define them, and the composition and needs of their student population, which is characterised by vulnerability, offensive behaviour, and multiculturalism. What is mainly subjected to, however, is the variety of repercussions of being imprisoned.
In the case of the Gymnasium and Lyceum which operate in the Avlonas Prison for Young Offenders, the need to deal with issues stemming from the distinctiveness of the school unit has, for the past many school years, led, through appropriate and efficient pedagogical approaches, to the implementation of the formal function of the school unit with a plethora of optional programmes and activities.
The current research attempts to investigate the role the aforementioned programmes play on the overall function of the school unit and the importance they have on achieving the school’s aims. These programmes are a valuable educational lever that results positively in, and assists with, the adaptation of the school context not only to the special conditions, but also to the educational outcomes on its special student population.