INMATES from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology – San Jose District in Antique will have another shot at obtaining their college degrees through the help of the University of Antique.

UA on Tuesday said its Holistic Opportunities and People’s Empowerment or HOPE program will branch out to BJMP San Jose District, which will provide education and livelihood opportunities to the inmates.

The program is funded by the Department of Science and Technology Region VI, with the help of BJMP – San Jose District’s Community Empowerment through Science and Technology program.

UA President Pablo Crespo said they take the program seriously, where the inmates will be treated like students and not just under a summer program.

“The classroom is really like a structural classroom na may TV and everything, because after all, if we will not treat them as our students, how can we give them a diploma? This is not just like a summer class, this is actually a college degree, so we take this very seriously,” Crespo said as posted on UA’s Facebook page.

A ladderized education program will be delivered by UA, alongside providing technical, marketing, packaging and labeling assistance, and other business operations to the student-inmates.

Under the program, the student-inmates will be lectured with modern equipment like desktop computers, Smart TVs, projectors, and printers to help them with their studies.

BJMP will also provide interventions in areas of health and nutrition, psychoeducation and meaning-making activities, health meal planning, and various training under the program.

Once launched, UA will be the second university in the Philippines to offer such a program next to the University of Southeastern Philippines.

The College Education Behind Bars was first conceived by the Social Entrepreneurship Technology and Business Institute, USeP, and BJMP in 2017.