The Irish Prison Service (IPS) is expected to spend around €480,000 over the next four years on a hairdressing training programme for inmates at the women’s Dóchas prison in Dublin, reports RTE.
In a tender issued today, the IPS said the course is intended to equip participants with the necessary hairdressing abilities while also helping them build personal development and job-seeking skills so they can find work in salons after leaving Dóchas prison, reports RTE.
The modules to be delivered by the course provider include salon support services, shampooing and conditioning, curling and finger waving, blow-drying, setting and styling, colour processes, as well as career planning and job-seeking skills.
One of the mandatory requirements is that the training must result in a ‘Certificate in Hairdressing’ accredited at City and Guilds Entry Level/Level 1 or an equivalent qualification, reports RTE.
Tender documents state that the contractor will be required to deliver four full-time courses each year, with each course running for ten weeks during the duration of the contract.
Each course can have a maximum of seven participants, with at least 28 prisoners needing both theoretical and practical training every year under the agreement, reports RTE.
Classes are scheduled to run from 9.30am to 12.30pm and from 2.00pm to 4.30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and at least one day each week must include practical demonstrations.
The tender has been issued at a time when overcrowding continues to affect inmates at the female Dóchas centre on the Mountjoy prison campus, reports RTE.
IPS figures published today show there were 335 female prisoners within the system at Dóchas, including those currently on temporary release.
The Dóchas centre has a bed capacity of 146, meaning the prison is currently operating at 149% of capacity, reports RTE.
The tender states that the key aim of the training is to identify and develop essential skills, helping trainees build the confidence needed to advance their hairdressing craft along with their technical and professional abilities.
It also notes that the IPS “places a strong emphasis on the provision of vocational training activities for prisoners and seeks to ensure that persons in custody have access to meaningful and constructive training”, reports RTE.
The tender adds that “training activities are chosen to give opportunities to acquire skills which help secure employment on release and are an essential requirement in improving rehabilitation outcomes”.
It further states that applicants interested in running the course must have at least four years of commercial hairdressing experience across a broad range of hairdressing techniques, reports RTE.
The IPS will provide all materials needed for the course.
The closing date for submitting tenders is 16 April, reports RTE.
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