[ti:In Kenyan Prison, Good Grades Are Path to Freedom] [ar:Jeri Watson] [al:Education Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Learning English Education Report. [00:05.33]Eighteen people in central Kenya [00:08.59]are taking the country's secondary education test, [00:12.40]called the KCSE. [00:15.23]Even under normal conditions, [00:18.97]this examination can make a student nervous. [00:22.77]But these 18 students may feel especially fearful. [00:28.24]They are serving sentences in a top-security prison. [00:33.15]And if they do well on the test, [00:36.64]they might get to leave the prison. [00:39.29]During the test the inmates sit at school desks at Naivasha Prison. [00:46.97]These prisoners have writing tools [00:50.95]and plastic devices used in mathematics. [00:54.41]The classroom looks like any other [00:58.11]except that the students are wearing prison uniforms. [01:02.06]David Noah Okwemba has just finished the examination [01:08.08]for history and biology. [01:10.99]He says he wants people to know [01:14.29]that the prisoners are no longer criminals. [01:17.40]Instead, he says they are students. [01:21.15]Prisoners who perform well can have their sentences amended. [01:27.66]They may be released early to go to university or find employment. [01:34.23]Patrick Mwenda is head officer at Naivasha prison. [01:40.82]He says Naivasha works with the high courts [01:45.07]to consider the cases of prisoners who get high marks. [01:49.40]Mr. Mwenda says nine prisoners have been released since 2008 [01:56.31]as a result of their schooling and tests. [01:59.83]So far, the releases have gone [02:03.38]only to prisoners sentenced to short terms. [02:07.04]Only one other possibility for freedom [02:11.55]exists for those facing life in prison [02:14.90]and those who have used up all their legal appeals. [02:19.38]Kenya's Power of Mercy committee [02:23.55]advises about pardons for prisoners. [02:26.94]Officials set up the committee in 2011. [02:31.74]Mr. Mwenda admits the difficulties of getting a pardon. [02:37.64]But he says the prison urges students [02:42.15]with longer sentences to build skills. [02:44.86]He says doing this would help them [02:48.57]have a good record to show the committee. [02:51.18]Inmate Prince Winsor Mosii does not approve of the whole system. [02:57.64]"The Power of Mercy is not actually helpful. [03:01.36]It is there, but it is not helping [03:04.86]in setting us at liberty (freeing us), [03:07.16]even if you have performed." [03:08.31]Prince Winsor Mosii took his KCSE exam last year. [03:14.20]But he says he does not see much reason [03:18.38]to get an education if he is to remain in prison. [03:22.87]"It is of no good to get [03:27.07]or to acquire something of great value, [03:29.58]skills, and not put it into action." [03:34.30]More than half of the 3,000 inmates at the Naivasha prison [03:39.83]are involved in the school program. [03:42.80]The inmates themselves choose the subjects [03:46.68]and decide the content of the studies. [03:49.95]And that's the VOA Learning English Education Report for today. [03:56.83]I'm Jeri Watson.