KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Ministry of National Security is taking steps to improve the island’s juvenile correctional centres and ensure that wards have greater access to education and training opportunities.

Minister of State in the ministry, Juliet Cuthbert Flynn, said the Government is focused on the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders as part of measures to strengthen the national security infrastructure.

“The Government is very serious about making sure that our correctional institutions are up to standard. I believe we will be going forward with the 2030 vision to make sure that things are up to standard in our correctional facilities,” she said.

The state minister was speaking during a familiarisation tour of the Metcalfe Street Secure Juvenile Remand Centre in Kingston on July 3.

The tour was to engage with the wards and staff and assess areas of the facility that needed to be upgraded.

Metcalfe Street, which houses over 90 wards, is equipped with a music studio, basketball court, agriculture unit, barber shop, and information and communications technology laboratory.

All wards are exposed to the various educational and skills training programmes.

These include, but are not limited to, numeracy and literacy skills, computer training, agriculture, clothing and textile, art and craft, home economics, principles of business, office procedures, social studies, human and social biology, music, and physical education.

– JIS