Georgetown, Guyana – August 5, 2025 – In a region where prison systems are often defined by overcrowding, unrest, and revolving-door justice, Guyana is quietly flipping the script. The latest episode of Safeguarding Our Nation, peels back the layers of Guyana’s prison transformation and shows how the country is building a new kind of correctional service, one that trades punishment for purpose.
At the heart of this shift is a simple idea: incarceration should be the start of something better. The Guyana Prison Service (GPS), once known for harsh conditions and minimal oversight, is now investing heavily in vocational training, psychological support, and reintegration planning, with results that are already changing lives.
In 2024 alone, over 820 inmates completed certified skills training programmes in areas such as masonry, agriculture, electrical installation, welding, and tailoring. Instead of serving time idly, prisoners are walking out with trade qualifications and job-ready experience.
But the transformation isn’t just physical, it’s psychological. GPS now provides structured counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy, anger management, and substance abuse treatment, interventions that experts say are essential to breaking cycles of criminal behaviour.
On the economic side, inmates are working on public-private projects, earning stipends and, in many cases, sending money home to support their families, a development almost unheard of in Caribbean correctional systems.
And the support doesn’t stop at the prison gate. Through the Fresh Start Initiative, former prisoners are given business toolkits and access to mentorship. Since 2022, over 50 ex-offenders have launched income-generating ventures, a sign that rehabilitation is translating into real-world opportunity.
“We are building a modern prison service that is professional, accountable, and focused on rehabilitation,” said Director of Prisons Nicklon Elliot. “As Mandela reminded us, a nation should be judged by how it treats its lowest citizens, and that is a standard we aspire to meet.”
GPS has also undergone a quiet but significant internal revolution. The service has upgraded officer training, now accredited by the University of Guyana. Officers will begin using body cameras within two weeks, and GPS remains the only agency in the country licensed to train other security services in taser use.
Staff are also benefiting from the reform wave. Since 2021, salaries have jumped from GY$113,347 to GY$165,723, and officers now have access to new housing, mental health services, and care packages, part of an effort to professionalise and stabilise the workforce.
To maintain public trust, GPS has introduced stricter internal accountability. Allegations of misconduct are met with disciplinary or legal action, and a transparent recruitment process is now led by a dedicated board that scouts talent across all ten regions.
Critics remain cautious. While the reforms are winning praise locally and across the region, questions persist about whether funding and political will can sustain the new model. Some worry that deeper systemic issues, like poverty, policing, and judicial backlogs, could still undercut the success of GPS’s efforts if left unaddressed.
Still, what’s happening inside Guyana’s prison system is reshaping how the country thinks about crime and justice. Bread-and-water diets and other inhumane punishments are gone. In their place: skills, structure, and a second chance.
Whether this becomes the regional standard or remains an exception depends on how long the momentum lasts, and whether the results continue to speak for themselves. For now, though, Guyana’s prisons are no longer just places of confinement. They are becoming places of rebuilding.
