A group of indigenous prisoners at Bandyup Women’s Prison hope to be among the first cohort of students there to complete a pilot study program that is an important initial step towards achieving a university degree.
The 2023 bridging Indigenous Tertiary Enabling Course (ITEC), running in partnership with Curtin University, starts in February at the prison’s education wing.
ITEC is being trialled at Bandyup after 10 male prisoners at Casuarina Prison successfully completed the course over the past two years.
Corrective Services Commissioner Mike Reynolds said the ITEC course offered women prisoners the chance to achieve success in education and employment, helping address social disadvantage.
“The Department’s collaboration with Curtin aims to support our prisoners to learn in a culturally secure and inclusive environment, opening the door to education opportunities that can prepare them for work when they return to the community,” Commissioner Reynolds said.
Acting Prisoner Education Campus Manager Fiona McGregor (pictured below) explained: “On completion of the 12-month ITEC course, the students gain an ATAR equivalency of 70, which opens doors to multiple courses at most universities across Australia.”
To secure their place in the 12-month course, the Bandyup prisoners are required to make an application to a Department of Justice panel prior to enrolling with Curtin.
In preparation for those applications, the Department has developed new Certificate II-level Literacy “self-paced learning” units designed specifically as a gateway to tertiary education.
The bespoke units being taught involve reading and writing for academic purposes.
“We have a tutor working with the women a couple of times a week to help them develop a collegiate bond and support them as they start academic studies for the first time,” Ms McGregor said.
The Bandyup ITEC hopefuls are currently working their way through the self-paced units.
If they successfully complete those units, the women can then put in their panel application. If approved and they elect to proceed, they can submit a Curtin enrolment application to do ITEC.
“Our course aims to scaffold students from a low-level starting point into academic opportunities whilst being culturally appropriate, and as such plays an important role in closing the education gap for Indigenous prisoners,” ITEC co-ordinator Ana Blazey, from Curtin’s Centre for Aboriginal Studies, said.
