Ankara Personnel Education Center

The Ankara Personnel Education Center is a public training institution operating under the General Directorate of Prisons and Detention Houses of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Türkiye. Our Center is responsible for the professional and in-service training of staff working in correctional institutions across Türkiye. We organise training programmes for correctional staff with different roles and responsibilities. Our training activities cover a wide range of areas, including prison security and management, human rights, professional ethics, communication, rehabilitation and social reintegration, working with children and adolescents, working with women in prison, supporting prisoners and detainees with health-related or special needs, working with LGBTQ+ people in correctional settings, adult education and innovative training methods. As a specialised training institution, our interests are not limited to a particular topic or technology. We closely follow training models, staff development practices, rehabilitation approaches, human-rights-based practices and innovative solutions used in correctional systems around the world. We place particular importance on observing practices on site, understanding how they are implemented and assessing their relevance and applicability to the correctional system in Türkiye. We do not aim simply to copy practices from other countries. Instead, we analyse the knowledge and experience we gain in relation to our own institutional and national needs and use them to develop our own training programmes, educational materials and practical models. We are also interested in the impact of digital transformation and emerging technologies on correctional services and staff training, including artificial intelligence, digital learning, augmented and virtual reality, simulation and other innovative technologies. Through international cooperation, study visits and on-site observation, we aim to learn from different correctional systems and translate relevant international experience into new and sustainable training approaches for correctional staff in Türkiye.