The Role of Education and Training in Transforming the Lives of Children in Juvenile Detention Centers

Yasmine Abdulhafeez – Sawt Al-Amal (Voice of Hope)

Children are the wealth of nations and a fundamental factor in sustainable development. However, many countries still face significant challenges in providing adequate protection for children and ensuring their fundamental rights to health, education, and care. This requires concerted efforts from governments, civil society, and the private sector to provide a safe and conducive environment for children to grow and thrive.

The responsibility for child protection is not limited to governments and formal institutions but extends to society as a whole. Family, school, and the local community play a vital role in raising children and providing a safe environment for them. It is essential to strengthen cooperation between all stakeholders to ensure that all children receive the care and protection they deserve.

Many societies around the world pay great attention to the issue of juveniles who commit crimes or engage in inappropriate behavior. Instead of focusing solely on punishment, these societies strive to provide comprehensive rehabilitation programs that aim to reintegrate these youth into society and equip them with the skills and knowledge necessary to build a better future. Care and rehabilitation centers are the first step in this path, providing a safe and supportive environment that helps juveniles overcome the difficulties they face.

To clarify the meaning of “juvenile,” the head of the Juvenile Court in Taiz, Durra Abdallah Haidar, states: “Legally, a juvenile is a person who has not reached the age of fifteen. A juvenile may be prone to delinquency as a result of several factors, including committing crimes, whether serious or minor, or due to difficult social and economic conditions that push them to run away from home or school or to engage in trivial work to earn a living, such as collecting plastic tools or begging. Even children who do not commit crimes directly may be vulnerable to delinquency if they live in unhealthy environments or associate with people of bad reputation.”

Majid Ahmad Al-Saba’i, professor of social work at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Aden, explains that juveniles are children who have been driven by life circumstances and the general socio-economic conditions of society to commit acts considered unlawful, leading to their imprisonment. However, due to their juvenile status, they are not sent to regular prisons but to alternative facilities known as “Juvenile Detention Centers.”

Institutions for Juvenile Delinquents’ Care

The children of Yemen are living through a profound humanitarian tragedy. They are victims of the ongoing conflict, suffering from the effects of family disintegration, displacement, poverty, and deprivation of their most basic rights. This cumulative suffering threatens the future of an entire generation, making them vulnerable to delinquency and crime. Concerted efforts are needed to provide the necessary care for these children, rehabilitate them, and protect them from future risks.

It is essential to activate and revitalize centers and complexes to accommodate these children across the country, rather than incarcerating them in prisons. They need a sound upbringing that enables them to become a generation that contributes to society, realizing their aspirations and future goals to become leaders and builders of tomorrow.

Judge Durra points out that the Child Care Complex includes several branches or centers. There are homes dedicated to juveniles, both boys and girls, as well as safe childhood homes, among others. The Juvenile Detention Center operates under the supervision of juvenile courts, by the law.

Al-Saba’i explains that the importance of such centers lies in their adoption of a sound upbringing for juvenile offenders. These centers aim to redirect their lives toward a secure future, away from fear, crime, delinquency, and actions that violate laws, customs, and beliefs.

Challenges Facing Juvenile Detention Centers in Yemen

Many juvenile detention centers across various governorates in Yemen face challenges and difficulties that hinder their ability to provide the necessary services, care, and everything these children need. This is particularly true given the significant deterioration afflicting most state institutions, in addition to the division caused by the conflict in the country.

Regarding the challenges facing the Juvenile Detention Center in Aden, Yasir Abdullah Abdu-Rabbu, director of the Center, says: “The center suffers from a severe shortage of resources. It needs comprehensive renovation and maintenance to provide a safe and suitable environment for children. It also requires new furniture suitable for both children and administration, as well as educational and recreational games that help develop their skills and abilities.”

He adds: “The center needs to employ qualified personnel and increase the number of staff to provide better care for the children. It should be more than just a shelter; it must be an educational and recreational environment that helps children develop their skills and abilities. Therefore, it needs to provide diverse vocational workshops that enable children to acquire life skills, helping them become self-reliant in the future.”

Abdu-Rabbu further emphasizes the necessity of conducting social and psychological research, case management, adding two academic semesters (one for literacy and one for continuing education), integrating some children to continue their studies, organizing awareness, behavioral, and ethical lectures, along with participation in safe space programs.

Juvenile care centers in Taiz are among those facing significant challenges. The ongoing conflict, which has lasted for more than nine years, has exacerbated these challenges, making it difficult for those in charge of the center to provide what the children, both boys and girls, need.

According to Judge Durra: “Before the conflict in Taiz, the Social Fund established an integrated development complex, in partnership with the Social Affairs Office. It included all centers and homes, including a Juvenile Detention Center for boys and girls. After the outbreak of the conflict, many buildings were damaged, and it is now in a contact zone between the two parties to the conflict.”

She continues: “A building was temporarily rented as an alternative, but it is not qualified to provide full care for juvenile delinquents, especially since the purpose of placing the child in the center is to rehabilitate them and build their personality to integrate them into society, after educating and training them in a profession that enables them to live a normal life, like other members of society. This alternative building is not qualified to play this role.”

She adds: “There is a coordinating committee in Taiz Governorate affiliated with the Ministry of Justice, which is a committee that has been formed in many Yemeni governorates in Aden, Lahj, Abyan, Shabwa, Hadhramaut, Marib, and other cities. This committee includes the court, police, prosecution, education office, health, security, and planning office. Its tasks include discussing juvenile issues, finding solutions to difficulties, and overcoming them.”

“Regarding the juvenile detention centers in coastal Hadhramaut, they were operational even before 2011. However, due to the conflict that Yemen went through, they were closed until the period of the Corona pandemic in 2020. The building was then handed over to the Ministry of Health to be a quarantine center, and after the end of the crisis, it was difficult to recover it,” according to Hikma Saeed Al-Shuaibi, Director of Social Defense at the Office of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in coastal Hadhramaut.

She adds: “Another building, the Girls’ Detention Center, was prepared and received support from institutions that worked on furnishing and preparing it. It was supported by the governor of the governorate with staff and an operational budget. However, the building still suffers from shortages and has not reached the same level as the old building.”

Al-Shuaibi calls on international organizations to support the center with activities and programs to qualify new employees, in addition to targeting children with educational and training programs that will help them in the future.

The Importance of Empowering Children

Education is the cornerstone of the juvenile rehabilitation process. Through education, juveniles get an opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills that enable them to successfully integrate into society. Education is not just about acquiring information; it is a means to develop personality, develop abilities, and build a better future. Providing vocational training is also important in equipping them with the practical skills necessary for the labor market, making them able to rely on themselves, and opening up new horizons for work and earning.

Judge Durra refers to the status of education and training at the Juvenile Care Center in Taiz, saying: “We worked in coordination with one of the schools for the education of children in the center and conducting tests for them. Coordination was also made with the education offices to approve their results and stamp their certificates. However, we emphasize the importance of supporting the center by civil society organizations, the private sector, and the public sector.”

She pointed out that many organizations have implemented numerous activities, including a program in coordination with the Ministry of Social Affairs in 2023, which included the rehabilitation and training of juvenile delinquents in electrical work and solar energy supply, intending to provide children with a profession that they can practice in the future. Tools were also provided to them by supporting organizations and entities. She stressed the importance of joint efforts in sustaining these training courses and ensuring that the center can continue implementing them through a dedicated workshop or a fixed laboratory.

Yasir explains that ten children from the Juvenile Detention Center have graduated from workshops in electrical work, painting, and agriculture, while seventeen children have completed the “Ambassadors of Childhood” program.

The Importance of Education and Training

Al-Saba’i elaborates on the significance of these programs: “What a child finds difficult in formal education, they find easier in vocational training. Training is extremely important for juvenile offenders. It allows them to learn new professions, enabling them to support themselves before supporting their families. Subsequently, they can support families they establish in society through legitimate means.”

He emphasizes that neglecting the rehabilitation and training of juvenile offenders, leaving them with only formal schooling will leave them emotionally and affectionately deprived. Training engages them and provides them with a profession. Therefore, it is crucial to educate these children using scientific methods taught in various schools, encompassing emotional, cognitive, and creative approaches.

He adds: “Training juvenile offenders has positive effects on both the individual and society. If they possess communication and interpersonal skills, they will experience social acceptance and coexistence, enabling them to live like other children in society.”

Judge Durra reiterates: “The importance of education and training in Juvenile Detention Centers is paramount. One of the main reasons for delinquency among these children is dropping out of school. We encounter children who have never attended school or have been out of school for several years.”

She continues: “Education is crucial for developing a child’s cognitive abilities, educating, nurturing, raising awareness, and enhancing their understanding of their surroundings and various concepts. Vocational training is equally important for juvenile offenders as they require rehabilitation.”

She poses a pertinent question: “What is the point of detaining a child without education or rehabilitation? The center’s work would be incomplete without these elements. The fundamental pillars of juvenile detention are education, rehabilitation, and reintegration into society. These children need psychological support, proper upbringing, guidance, training, awareness, and cultural enrichment.”