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The new platform currently in development is COEP, which stands for Corrections Off-line Education Platform. After installing eGranary in a few Iowa corrections facilities, WiderNet realized that a comprehensive platform directed toward such facilities nationwide would mark another great leap in improving educational access. I was directed to WiderNet by Brian Walsh, a Washington-based corrections education provider, while doing research for the Saylor Foundation. Walsh explained that off-line platforms are a necessary development in remaking corrections education, as Internet access is forbidden in the vast majority of U.S. prison systems.
The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world, 900 times what it was 40 years ago. Most states are troubled by overflowing prisons, causing increased intra-prison violence and imposing monumental costs on state budgets. Providing an education for incarcerated individuals helps to alleviate these problems. Inmate education reduces recidivism, mitigating overcrowding and offering prisoners greater opportunities upon release. With new platforms in place to offer educational resources free of charge, the state incurs a very low cost and those barely able to pay the fines and court costs associated with their incarceration may be able to receive the training necessary to earn a paycheck on the outside.
Education is a right and a necessity. Access to education improves productivity and safety on every level of human organization – from neighborhoods to nations. Our hats go off to WiderNet and all those working to spread knowledge and open to all people the countless opportunities a good education can provide.
To read about eGranary and how you can get involve at, head over to http://www.widernet.org/egranary/ . For more information on COEP and involvement opportunities can be found at http://www.widernet.org/coep/ .