Akademie VS ČR

Dear colleagues, dear friends,

Some of you (including Lucie and Jack from U.K.) inform us that you cannot get access to our Facebook. You would like to read and comment articles about the Czech Prison Service Academy, but it is not possible for you for some reasons.

We have decided to publish all the articles (in Czech and in English) also on our web sites for you.

In case you wish to share your experience or some information with our readers, please, use any accessible platform. We will make your message public. We will appreciate your contributions and/or comments in any form.

Here are some examples of what our foreign colleagues write:

András Csécsényi (Hungary): Very nice place, hope to visit it after the pandemic. Best wishes from Szombathely, Hungary!

Peter Schulte (Lower Saxony): In our academy, we started with our lessons again in May. We handle our three advanced groups, that only one of them is present in our academy. We split the group, that our lessons are held with only 12 people. In front of the teacher’s desk is a clear plane, so that they are protected. The other two groups are at home and we practice online-lessons. It’s far away from the quality of personal lessons, but it works, that the students will do their exams in June.

Martin Hoffmann (Austria): Nor do I want to miss congratulating the Academy on its 20th anniversary. The building looks very modern in the photos on Facebook and I am almost a little jealous when I see this large building with a plot of land next to it.

About the situation in Austria: all basic and advanced training events have been stopped due Covid-19 on March 17th, 2020. Since then, all employees of the Austrian Prison Service Academy have been working from home. One member of the staff is at the academy every day and checks all safety devices.

The students in basic training for prison officers were sent for practical training in the prisons and support the staff in the prisons. Some of those classes will begin again in May, while maintaining social distancing and wearing a face masks. For this purpose, particularly large rooms are either rededicated in classrooms in the training centres or large classrooms are rented in external facilities. For the first time, we will also be using video courses to reduce the number of students in our educational institutions.

Ondine Tavernier (France): We’re also celebrating our 20 years in Agen this year!

Doug Dretke (Texas) – comment on Skype exams: This is an excellent example and process for other correctional systems to consider as they also think about their processes in this challenging and difficult time for all of us.

Dear colleagues, thank you very much for your communication.

Author and Photo: Iva Prudlová