Challenges and Coping Strategies in the Implementation of College Education Behind Bars at Davao Prison and Penal Farm

Abstract

College Education Behind Bars (CEBB) is recognized globally as a transformative tool for reducing recidivism and fostering the successful reintegration of Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs). Despite its growth, there is limited research on the operational realities faced by implementers navigating these highly restrictive environments. This study investigates the challenges encountered and the coping strategies employed in implementing the CEBB program at the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in the Philippines, a collaborative initiative involving Davao del Norte State College (DNSC) and the Davao Prison and Penal Farm, with support from a private implementing partner. The private implementing partner plays a key role in facilitating program implementation through logistical support, coordination, and educational service assistance, strengthening the partnership between the higher education institution and the correctional facility. This qualitative single-case study utilized purposive sampling to interview eight program implementers, including three coordinators and five faculty members. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to uncover the challenges and coping mechanisms inherent in prison-based schooling. Implementers faced significant structural barriers, including institutional support constraints (funding gaps), credential-based eligibility hurdles, faculty workload strain, and stringent custodial security restrictions that disrupt academic continuity. Adaptive coping strategies employed included carceral inter-agency continuity meetings, collaborative document support systems involving families to secure academic records, and instructional resource substitution, which relies on printed modules and simulations to overcome technological gaps. The study concludes that prison higher education is a highly negotiated system where pedagogy and correctional control continually intersect. Sustaining such programs requires implementers to act as adaptive leaders who can reconstruct teaching processes to fit the realities of confinement.