Education as a Source of Change and Discipline: A Case Study of Education System in the Prisons of Colonial Punjab

Abstract

This article discusses the education system in the prisons of colonial Punjab from 1849 to 1947. The main aim is to understand the basic prison system in the context of colonialism and the role of education in transforming prisoners into civilized citizens. Education was one of the key elements of reforming the prisoners, which was not practiced in any prison in colonial Punjab with a proper system like the other subjects and elements of prisons. The prison education system in the prisons of colonial Punjab was divided into two phases: the first phase from 1849 to 1900 AD, which was relatively better in the context of prison education, as the colonial authorities tried to maintain an education system for the adult prisoners, and the second phase from 1900 to 1947. During this period, education was ignored in the prisons of colonial Punjab because it was considered not useful for the inmates. On the other hand, labour, skill, and industrial development were more focused in the prisons of colonial Punjab, but this, in fact, never proved to be a source of reformation and transformation. The labour work was, in most cases, extramural, and the inmates faded up from hard labor