Educational poverty and merit: imprisonment, a case in point

Abstract

The article starts from the definition of educational poverty as a direct consequence of social inequalities that prevent the completion of one’s educational/training pathway; lead to the non-use and loss of acquired knowledge; result in low levels of basic ‘skills’. Looking at the prison population, the percentages of school dropouts and low levels of education relative to educational qualifications reveal a picture of strong educational deprivation in which education and culture stand out as central elements to ensure that each individual not only has a job, but the necessary skills to cope with the different stages of his/her life, improving his/her quality of life. In this context, merit and evaluation cannot but embrace the full range of capabilities of the ‘restricted’ adult, taking in account factors as the level of education, ability to ‘mobilise’ any prior knowledge and the sphere in which this knowledge has developed or evolved.