In a rare and symbolic moment for correctional reform in Papua New Guinea, a low-risk inmate from the Kerevat Correctional Services Facility, Donald Robert, graduated with a Diploma in Human Resource Management on July 29, 2025. His achievement marked a quiet milestone—not only for himself, but for the newly established International Training Institute (ITI) Kokopo Campus, which held its first graduation ceremony since opening in East New Britain last year.
Donald, who enrolled through ITI’s Distance Learning Centre in 2023, was one of 30 students to graduate at the Kokopo campus. But his story stood out. As an inmate, his successful completion of a two-year academic program represents a compelling case for the role of education in rehabilitation, particularly in a country where correctional facilities often struggle to move beyond punitive approaches.
While tertiary education programs for inmates are not unprecedented globally, they remain rare in Papua New Guinea—largely due to institutional underfunding, infrastructure constraints, and a policy environment that continues to prioritise containment over reintegration. Donald’s graduation challenges these norms. It suggests that, given the opportunity and support, correctional institutions can become sites of transformation, not just incarceration.
ITI, which has operated an open campus in East New Britain since 2012, is emerging as a key player in expanding access to vocational and tertiary education across Papua New Guinea. The establishment of its Kokopo Campus in 2024 reflects a shift toward more decentralised and accessible higher education delivery models. That such a model could accommodate an inmate’s academic journey speaks volumes about both its flexibility and its social potential.
Yet Donald’s achievement also raises deeper questions about the state of PNG’s correctional system. The PNG Correctional Service (CS), under the Department of Justice and Attorney General, has long struggled with overcrowding, staff shortages, outdated infrastructure, and minimal funding for rehabilitation services. Most prisons focus on basic custodial duties, with few offering structured pathways for education or employment readiness.
That an inmate could not only access a recognised diploma program but also complete it—despite the limitations of a correctional facility—points to what is possible when institutional barriers are lowered. It also raises a broader policy imperative: education must be recognised as a core component of rehabilitation, not an optional add-on.
For PNG, where recidivism remains high and reintegration support is minimal, investment in inmate education is not just a moral gesture—it is a pragmatic one. Skills acquisition reduces the likelihood of reoffending, enhances post-release employability, and can interrupt cycles of poverty and marginalisation that feed into the justice system in the first place.
Donald’s story also touches on the evolving role of non-state actors in service delivery. With ITI stepping into a space traditionally dominated by state institutions, it is worth examining how partnerships between correctional services and private or community-based training providers might offer scalable, cost-effective solutions to chronic gaps in rehabilitation infrastructure.
In many ways, this graduation was more than a ceremony. It was a quiet, powerful statement: that justice reform in PNG must be about more than security—it must be about human development. And in that vision, even a prison cell can become a classroom.