From a distance, the compound looks like any other prison. But that impression changes the moment you step inside the Nyagatare Juvenile Correctional Facility, where classrooms and workshops, rather than cells, are among the first things to greet you.

It is a Sunday morning, and the young inmates are already engaged in different activities. In one section, a group gathers for a meeting. In nearby workshops, others are learning practical skills including carpentry, masonry, tailoring, welding, weaving and electrical work.

Inside the classrooms, another kind of transformation is taking place.

Books are open, lessons are being revised and young people are preparing for futures they hope will extend far beyond the walls around them.

Eighteen-year-old Jean Baptiste Nahimana sits focused on a mathematics exercise. He and his classmates are working through simultaneous equations, with one student patiently helping another understand the problem.

For Nahimana, the classroom represents more than a place to study. It is a second chance.

He is among the young inmates who recently completed Ordinary Level (O'Level) studies and are preparing to begin Advanced Level (A'Level) education at the facility.

"I was sentenced after being found guilty of using cannabis. When I first arrived here, I felt confused and hopeless. You are not used to life in prison," he recalls.

"But I was helped not to remain upset, and I gradually got used to it," he adds.

From P5 dropout to O'Level graduate

Before his arrest, Nahimana had dropped out of school in Primary Five. He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of drug-related offences.

"As I got used to the place, I found that others were studying. I decided to enrol and started in P5," he says.

The decision changed the direction of his life. He progressed through primary school and eventually sat the Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE), which he says he passed with good grades.

In 2026, he completed his O'Level examinations. When the results were released in early August, he learned that he had passed and could proceed to A'Level, where he will study Mathematics, Physics, Economics and Geography (MPEG).

Education at the facility follows the national competency-based curriculum, with juvenile inmates sitting national examinations inside the prison.

Teachers are adult inmates serving their own sentences who hold university degrees in different fields.

"I passed the exams well and I am going for A'Level. I feel happy and encouraged to study from prison, even while I am serving my sentence," Nahimana says.

Still, he wishes students had greater flexibility in choosing subjects.

"Some of us do not feel comfortable with science-related courses, and we wish we had more options to choose from," he says.

Despite that concern, Nahimana says the environment allows students to concentrate on their studies.

"Studying here is possible because we have enough time to revise. We do nothing else other than study, and we have full support."

A future beyond the prison walls

Nahimana's ambitions now extend beyond secondary school. He hopes to pursue university studies and eventually use his education to serve others.

"Once I am done with my sentence, I will also have completed my studies, and I will try to join university and serve the public," he says.

"I hope to contribute to the national socio-economic development and give back to the communities I wronged," he adds.

His time at the facility has also forced him to confront the offence that brought him there. He says the court process and his experience in detention helped him understand the consequences of drug use.

"At first, I thought I was right. But as I went through the court processes, I was convinced that I was wrong," he says.

"Not only was I harming my body, but also society. I used drugs while I was in the community and shared them with others, including children. I realised I had committed a crime against society as a whole."

He says he is now remorseful and determined never to return to drug use.

"As I serve my sentence, I am also learning how to behave well, and I commit to never using drugs again."

For Nahimana, the facility has become a place where punishment is accompanied by an opportunity to rebuild.

"I am thankful to RCS and the government for giving me a chance to live not as a prisoner, but as a human being and a child," he says.

"We get almost everything a child would need. Our rights are respected. It is a holistic approach."

Education behind the walls

Nahimana is not alone.

Nyagatare Juvenile Correctional Facility accommodates 515 juvenile inmates, many of whom arrived with disrupted or incomplete education.

For some, incarceration interrupted their schooling; for others, formal education had stopped long before they entered the correctional system.

Eliab Ntezimana, an inmate who also serves as an English and Kinyarwanda teacher, says learning materials supplied by the Rwanda Basic Education Board (REB) are helping students receive an education comparable to that of learners in ordinary schools.

"We received teaching and learning materials from REB, which ensure students get quality education like their counterparts in the normal setting," he says.

Teaching young inmates, he adds, requires an understanding of their different backgrounds.

"Juvenile inmates are willing to study, and we assist them based on their background. Some require more effort, while others find it easy to navigate the courses. As teachers, we first identify everyone's strengths and weaknesses, then support them accordingly."

Learning a trade, preparing for life

Beyond the conventional classroom, young inmates are offered vocational training in areas including carpentry, masonry, weaving, tailoring, welding and electricity, according to CSP Hillary Sengabo, the Rwanda Correctional Service (RCS) spokesperson.

"The particularity of the facility is that it accommodates children aged between 14 and 18 who committed crimes," Sengabo says.

"Some dropped out when they were imprisoned, while others did not study at all. Those who dropped out continue their studies, while others enrol for the first time. Those who cannot join mainstream education enrol in short courses in a preferred trade."

The approach is intended to ensure that a prison sentence does not become an interruption to a child's future.

"Some of these children confronted the law and were found guilty, but we know they are children who deserve their rights as children," Sengabo says.

'Not educating them would be double punishment'

According to RCS, the young inmates have shown that they can perform well academically when given the opportunity to learn.

Sengabo says 11 students passed one set of examinations, while all 17 O'Level candidates succeeded.

The education follows the Rwanda Education Curriculum, and the school is inspected by the district. Those enrolled in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes can also obtain certificates from the Rwanda TVET Board.

"We know these children committed crimes, but they are still young and can change," Sengabo says.

"That is why we offer a holistic approach helping them serve their sentences while respecting their rights as children."

He adds: "Not educating them would amount to double punishment. Children have a right to education, to food, to clothing and to welfare."

A sentence, but also a second chance

The walls remain. So do the sentences.

But inside those walls, education offers something punishment alone cannot: a pathway to a different future.

For Nahimana, that future begins with A'Level. Then, perhaps, university. Beyond that lies the possibility of a life in which the mistakes of his youth do not become the defining story of his adulthood.

"I hope that one day my prison term will end and I will be released—full of energy and with enough skills to navigate life," he says.