Education for Social Justice and Transformation: A Mismatch between Policy and Practice in Juvenile Reformatory Schools in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Few studies have directly examined juveniles’ experiences regarding their academic challenges as they go through reformatory institutions. In this study, 53 institutionalised juveniles responded to open ended interview questions by identifying and describing educational practices that affected their academic achievement. The data from this study revealed four themes of educational experiences, namely correctional curriculum, corporal punishment, recidivism and failure to re-integrate into mainstream society. The key conclusions from the data revealed there is a wide gap between juvenile re-integration expectations and the correctional curriculum that students are exposed to as they do time in the local detention facilities under study. There was a clear disconnection between the officials and how students’ valued their benefits of being detained in the institution.