CHARACTERISTICS

The Training Institute of the Corps of Prison and Court Guard (hereinafter referred to as the "Training Institute") is a training facility, the history of which dates back to 1979, when the Vocational School of the Corps of Correctional Services (hereinafter referred to as the "CCS") was established. This laid the foundation for the development of a departmental educational system and defined the profile of graduates from the CCS’s basic and specialized training courses.

Over time, the need arose to further improve professional training and, in particular, to provide full secondary education in the field of "correctional education." For this reason, by Order No. 5/1985 of the Minister of Justice of the Slovak Socialist Republic, the Secondary School of the CCS SSR was established in 1985. In practice, this meant that the school was authorized to provide full secondary education ending with a school-leaving examination (maturita). The program was conducted in a part-time format lasting three or four years.

After 1989, the Secondary School of the CCS underwent several organizational and qualitative changes as a special-purpose facility of the Corps. With the approval of the Training Concept of the Corps of Prison and Court Guard (hereinafter referred to as the “Corps”) in 1997, new educational activities began to be implemented within the Corps, including language training, professional training in information technology, etc.

Legal changes, along with continuously increasing demands for professional competence, professionalism, and readiness of prison officers in fulfilling their service duties, required the streamlining and improvement of the education and training , with an emphasis on modernizing teaching methods through an integrated approach.

This issue was addressed comprehensively in the training concepts for Corps prison officers and employees, as well as in internal regulations governing the organization and system of education and training of Corps personnel.

The training of prison personnel is primarily focused on:

• Acquiring theoretical knowledge and practical skills, especially in the areas of law, organization of the Corps, penology, and service training;

• Understanding service discipline, work discipline, and professional ethics as prerequisites for proper treatment of prisoners;

• Developing communication skills and the ability to solve problems creatively and responsibly;

• Enhancing skills in working with information technologies;

• Completeing and improving specific professional knowledge, skills, and competencies.

As part of its activities, the Training Institute of the Corps of Prison and Court Guard provides the following training programs:

Professional training of prison officers: (a) basic training, (b) specialised training.

Specialism training: (a) social-psychological training – level I, (b) social-psychological training – level II, course for judicial guards, course for dog handlers, course for specialist dog handlers, course for preventive security services, course for shift supervisors, course for regime officers, course in firearms and professional preparation, professional training of civilian staff of the Corps.

The educational process at the Training Institute of the Corps is conducted by both in-house lecturers and external experts. These include lecturers from the Directorate General of the Corps of Prison and Court Guard, various prison facilities, as well as from outside institutions (e.g., the Prosecutor’s Office).

For training purposes, the Training Institute provides the following facilities: three standard classrooms, computer classroom, shooting instruction room, meeting room, gymnasium, library.

The classrooms are equipped with didactic and audiovisual teaching technology. Participants of the training programs are accommodated at the accommodation facilities of the Remand Prison and the Prison in Nitra.