Globally, there are an estimated 8.5 million adults in prison today and approximately 1 million children held in secure detention in young offender units. Only a small proportion of these prisoners and detainees will be provided with any sort of education, and even then, the quality will vary depending on the country or state where they are incarcerated. Prisoners are often confined to their cells for long periods of time, with few opportunities for purposeful activity such as education or training, even though most authorities acknowledge that education would improve prisoners' life chances and promote their reintegration into society. Historically, prisons have been allocated meager resources for education; the emphasis of funding prioritized on health, safety, and security issues, with education viewed as a marginal ...