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Prisoners in England to Be Taught to Code


Prisoners in two U.K. prisons will have the opportunity to learn coding.

The U.K. government will fund a program in which "carefully vetted" prisoners will be taught software coding.

Credit: Getty Images

As part of a project to help people in disadvantaged communities expand their digital skills, the U.K. government will fund a program in which "carefully vetted" prisoners will be taught software coding.

To be rolled out initially at two prisons and an employment hub, the government will provide £100,000 ($132,600) to underwrite the program, in which participants will be trained in basic coding, before graduating to more advanced levels.

Prisoners will work on real-world projects for outside clients, then for clients on temporary day release, with the goal of helping them secure full-time employment as developers when their sentences are complete.

The government hopes the program, modeled after the Last Mile project at California's San Quentin prison, will lead to a network of coding workshops in U.K. prisons.

Said Neil Barnby with the Code 4000 organization, "The workshops are reducing reoffending at a measurable rate, because we keep in touch with our graduates."

From BBC News
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