'Communities failing to support minors who return from detention centres'
A lack of community support has become the strongest impediment to helping minors return to society from youth detention centres, a seminar heard on Wednesday.
Minors who had been convicted or sent to youth detention centres were usually unwelcome in their communities when they wanted to return to their normal life, said Daniel Bey, the Asia Pacific regional director of an education advocacy NGO Prison Fellowship International.
He was speaking at the online seminar titled: “A Life Rewritten: Empowering Young Offenders for Renewal through Alternative Education” organised by Thailand’s Equitable Education Fund (EEF).
“A released inmate leaves the first physical prison and potentially enters into a second social prison,” Bey said.
According to a report by the Thai Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection, as many as 12,602 Thais aged 11-18 were charged with legal cases in 2023. Of the figure, 91 per cent – 11,472 – were male.
The report showed that around 8,400 of them were neither studying nor employed. Most of them were found committing drug-related offences.
Bey emphasised the importance of the education afforded to minors behind bars, saying it could lead to a seamless transition from prison to society.
Supachai Traithaiteera, the president of Infinite Intelligence Foundation, presented a curriculum called “O-kard (or Opportunity) Model”, which aims to provide an education system designed specifically for detained minors.
The EEF has implemented the curriculum since 2021. Over 1,900 students educated under the system have successfully reintegrated with the formal education system, with 680 of them completing a bachelor's degree.
The EEF claimed that the model reduced the number of criminal cases committed by minors to just 15 per cent in 2022.
Supachai said this model allowed delinquent children to access a tailor-made education curriculum that aligned with the interests and needs of the labour market.
He said the children were trained in both hard and soft skills and could continue studying at the same level in a regular education system after leaving the corrections facilities.
Hard skills include vocational ones such as digital or mechanical skills, while soft skills focused on how to reclaim self-esteem and be an active and responsible citizen in a global society.
Supachai added that the model sought collaborative support from related bodies like municipal offices, local schools, and psychologists in communities to work together to help these youths return to society.
