In the medium security facility of the Department of the Penal Enforcement System in the Abai region, convicts receive vocational education in technical specialties on the basis of the Semey Polytechnic College.

Currently, more than 70 convicts between the ages of 20 and 65 study at the college. Convicts serving sentences in medium-security institutions learn professions such as electric and gas welders, carpenters, tailors, plumbers, and car repair technicians. The training period is ten months.

            - I am 64 years old. I have devoted almost my entire life to school and children — I have been teaching geography for more than thirty years. I was only a few months away from retirement, but fate decreed otherwise — I ended up here and was imprisoned for eight years.

             Despite this, I firmly believe that it is never too late to learn. This year I started college and am learning the profession of an electric and gas welder. It gives me hope and a feeling that life hasn't stopped. After my release, I dream of opening my own small welding shop, being useful to society and passing on my knowledge to my children and grandchildren," the convict shared.

              - Before my imprisonment, I lived in Almaty and worked as a loader in one of the LLP companies. My spouse and five minor children are waiting for me at home. When I was convicted, my family was left with virtually no means of livelihood — this is the hardest thing for me. Now there is a service station on the territory of the institution, and I got a job there in order to somehow help my loved ones. In order to be in demand as a specialist, I started my college studies as a car repair mechanic. I am sure that this profession will be a ticket to a new life for me — an honest and law-abiding one. I want to return to my children not broken, but as a person who knows how to work and provide for his family," the convict shared.

            - Vocational training is a key element of resocialization. We are doing everything possible to ensure that convicts do not just serve their sentences, but are released with real skills and an understanding of their value to society. Getting a job is a chance to start a new, law—abiding life, find a job and provide for your families. It is labor and education that become the basis for their successful social adaptation," said Kuanyshbek Tukanov, head of the Labor Organization Department for convicts.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/duisabai/press/news/details/1197014?lang=kk