'First Suneung in Prison' Juvenile Inmates Studying Hard... Gaining Dreams While Learning

Visiting Seoul Nambu Prison's 'Mandela Sonyeon School'

On the 16th, 10 juvenile inmates at Seoul Nambu Prison will take the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) inside the prison. This is the first time in history that the CSAT is being held in a prison.

While studying for the CSAT at the 'Mandela Juvenile School' established within the prison, they have developed dreams of entering university after their release.

Boys from the Mandela Boys' School's CSAT class are attending a lesson.
[Photo by Mandela Boys' School]

On the afternoon of the 13th, three days before the CSAT, we visited the Mandela Juvenile School at Seoul Nambu Prison in Guro-gu, Seoul. Juvenile inmates sentenced to prison terms ranging from 2 to 15 years were wearing deep blue prison uniforms with their inmate numbers on their chests, diligently taking notes on printed past exam questions and class content placed on their desks.

Named after Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the Mandela Juvenile School opened in March. It is a correctional facility that gathers juvenile inmates aged 14 to 17 who are motivated to study, providing them with opportunities to obtain academic qualifications. The facility's name is inspired by Mandela's quote, "The glory of life is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." On August 28, 27 out of 28 juvenile inmates passed the high school equivalency exam, and among them, a CSAT preparation class was formed with 10 students. While correctional officers with teaching certificates teach the equivalency exam classes, Yonsei University students conduct classes four times a week focusing on four subjects: Korean, English, Mathematics, and Korean History for the CSAT class.

A boy's English exam paper was filled with dense marks from solving problems and red circles intertwined.
Photo by Seoyul Hwang chestnut@

When the CSAT class was first proposed, not all juvenile inmates readily volunteered. Some reacted with comments like, "What can a former offender do with the CSAT?" or "What’s the point of taking the CSAT?" Some juvenile inmates also expressed fears about reintegration into society. Im Jin-ho, a correctional officer (29) who teaches English in the equivalency exam class, said, "Many juvenile inmates express concerns about whether they can live well after release."

However, after starting their studies at the Mandela Juvenile School, the juvenile inmates began to have departments they wanted to enter. Jeong Myeong-ju (21, male, 2nd-year Architecture Engineering student at Yonsei University), a student instructor who has been teaching CSAT English for two months, said, "One student asked how high a score is needed to enter the Physics or Mechanical Engineering departments, and another wants to go to veterinary school," adding, "Some students even said they would retake the exam if they don’t get the desired scores." The Ministry of Justice plans to provide university application opportunities to juvenile inmates taking the CSAT through the Mandela Juvenile School. Actual enrollment is possible if the release date aligns with or can be coordinated with the university’s academic schedule. Juvenile inmates with long sentences remaining may be transferred to prisons operating the Korea National Open University to earn degrees.

There are differences in academic achievement among the juvenile inmates. Some have scored a level 2 in the English mock test. Level 2 corresponds to the top 4-11%, which is a score sufficient to apply to major universities in the metropolitan area. Most scores range from level 3 (top 11-23%) to level 5 (40-60%), showing some variation. Nevertheless, all juvenile inmates preparing for the CSAT are highly passionate about their studies and are gradually improving, according to the university student instructors. Jeong said, "When they first arrived, some students didn’t even know how to read English sentences, but now they are starting to interpret them and are getting 3 to 4 more correct answers than before."

At the entrance of Mandela Boys' School, which opened last March, a quote from former South African President Nelson Mandela is displayed like a lesson: "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." Photo by Seoyul Hwang chestnut@

Currently, the CSAT class juvenile inmates are divided into rooms of 3, 3, and 4 students. They sometimes stay up past 1 a.m. memorizing English vocabulary. Due to prison regulations, it is difficult to use the Mandela Juvenile School facilities after 9 p.m. on weekdays, but some juvenile inmates study autonomously in their rooms late into the night. Because the prison is under 24-hour surveillance and lights are never turned off at bedtime, this actually helps their studying.

As more juvenile inmates want to join the CSAT class, the academic atmosphere in the equivalency exam class has also improved. Officer Im said, "There were cases where students couldn’t distinguish between lowercase 'b' and 'd' in the alphabet, but now they can interpret simple sentences." The Mandela Juvenile School plans to fill the four spots of CSAT class students scheduled to be released next year and even expand the program.

Although there is criticism questioning whether academic support helps correction and rehabilitation, the correctional officers here believe that education can offer juvenile inmates an alternative to crime after release. Kim Jong-han, principal of the Mandela Juvenile School, said, "In my 30 years as a correctional officer, I have encountered juvenile inmates again as adult prisoners," adding, "Some juvenile inmates here have not even obtained a high school diploma, and I believe education is necessary to help them consider paths other than crime."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.