A good investment

Stuff reports:

Taxpayers are about to pump an extra $5 million a year into educating criminals.

Prisoner learning places will increase from about 900 last year to 1700 in 2015, and funding will rise to $7m a year for the next two years, up from $2m in 2013 and 2014.

So is this worth the investment?

Convicted killer John Barlow, who mentored several prisoners to study while he was in jail, is a passionate advocate for the importance of education for inmates, believing prisons need dedicated study units.

“Evidence over the last 50 years in the United States shows that people who attain degrees while in prison almost never return to prison,” he told The Dominion Post earlier this month. “That means no more victims, they can get a job and pay tax, and the state does not have to pay $100,000 a year to keep them in prison.”

If Mr Barlow is correct, then it seems a very good investment.