Alternative Education Centre (Kerlile)

A Kerlian Alternative Education Centre (colloquially known as Alt-Ed) is a type of prison facility in Kerlile where offenders (usually under the age of 25) are given lessons on Kerlian values in order to rehabilitate them into society using a variant of operant conditioning called alternative education.

Critics of the Kerlian alternative education system have called the facilities 'brainwashing' and have said that they are merely there to ensure that the population of Kerlile remain obedient to the Kerlian state and the Council of Kerlile.

There are 6 types of Alternative Education Centre - Infant (Male), Juvenile (Male & Female), Young Adult (Male & Female), Adult (Female), although occasionally people outside of the applicable age or gender range will be sentenced to undertake a similar education programme within another facility.

Aims

Alternative Education Centres are part of a strategy by the Department of Rehabilitative Education in Kerlile to ensure "the residents of Kerlile are responsible, safe and considerate of the unique history of the Matriarchy". In practice, this has meant encouraging citizens to behave in a manner that is in keeping with the ideology of Kerlian traditionalism espoused by the Women's Party of Kerlile.

Alternative Education Centres (known colloquially in Kerlile as alt-ed) are designed to convince Kerlian residents who do not conform to the ideology of the Kerlian state to renounce their previous beliefs. Upon release, a former inmate of an Alternative Education Centre is expected to be fully law-abiding and refrain from any criticism of the state.

Methodology

A number of different methods are used within Alternative Education Centres, ranging from relatively benign classroom style lessons to things which could be called torture. Alternative Education Centres are known for using operant conditioning techniques on political dissidents to force conformity to Kerlian ideology.

Residents of Alternative Education Centres are expected to attend daily classes on a number of topics, including: Kerlian history, Kerlian culture, feminist theory, Kerlian law and countering misogyny. Many of these classes involve watching propaganda films, and those who sit through the classes and pass examinations are given rewards. Refusal to attend classes or take tests "in good faith" will result in an inmate being transferred to "Phase Two".

"Phase Two" is code for a stricter regime within the Centre. Inmates on Phase Two are given individual lessons where failure to cooperate will be punished. Inmates are given tasks such as sorting propaganda statements, singing the Kerlian National Anthem and writing essays against misogyny until they comply with such tasks without prompting. The aim of this is to use operant conditioning to change the behaviour of inmates. Punishments can include being locked in a small enclosed space, force-fed unpleasant foods, or having water sprayed at one's face.

Types of Facility

Infant (5-8)

Infant Alternative Education Centres are used to house male children between the ages of five to eight who display "misogynistic behaviour". Unlike in the case of older residents, residents of Infant Centres cannot be sent there due to opinions or speech, only by displaying overtly misogynistic behaviour such as assaulting girls.

Those sent to Infant Centres may be held for no longer than one year, and methods used in Infant Centres are less strict than in other Centres. Infant Alt-Ed Centres are subjected to greater amounts of scrutiny, and techniques such as starvation are forbidden from use. There are only two Infant Centres in Kerlile, both of which can house up to 20 boys. As of July 2012, only seven boys were being held in Infant Centres.

Juvenile (8-15)

Juvenile Alternative Education Centres can hold either boys or girls between the ages of eight to fifteen. In order to be sent to a juvenile centre, an individual must meet a test that they were aware of their actions and cognitively able to understand that their behaviour was unacceptable in Kerlian society.

In Juvenile Centres, inmates are given normal school lessons alongside the range of Alt-Ed topics given to adult inmates. Juvenile Centres are designed to resemble boarding schools, with residents living in dorms of between 4 and 12 individuals. Residents who cooperate with the alternative education programme are allowed to take part in evening activities such as sports, creative activities or film clubs.

Young Adult (16-25)

Young Adult Alternative Education Centres are the most common type of Alt-Ed Centre. Whereas those under 16 are only sent to a Centre if their behaviour is unable to be treated in the community, and those over 25 are usually sentenced to prison, most political dissidents in this age range are sentenced to a term in an Alternative Education Centre.

Unlike prison sentences, Alt-Ed sentences for adults (age 16+) last for five years, or until the individual can pass an examination proving that they have been sufficiently rehabilitated, whichever comes first. Inmates are initially offered the opportunity to cooperate voluntarily, however if they have not chosen to do so by the end of their first two weeks they are subjected to Phase Two.

During the Second Lauchenoirian Civil War, many female prisoners of war between the ages of 16 to 25 were sent to special Alt-Ed Centres designed to convince foreign individuals to subscribe to Kerlian ideology. Following the agreement of the Haven Accords, these prisoners were released, and their reports have increased the understanding of Kerlian alternative education outside of the Matriarchy.

Adult (25+)

There is one Adult Alternative Education Centre in Kerlile catering to women only. Previously, there were multiple centres but most were closed when research at the University of Grapevale found that the alternative education technique was significantly less effective on over-25s. There are no longer any facilities for men over 25, and only one for women.

The regime is identical to the Young Adult facilities. Women over 25 are often sentenced to Alt-Ed rather than prison if they seem remorseful and regretful for a political crime committed. Prisoners in other facilities can often also be transferred to Alt-Ed if they are deemed "exceptionally cooperative" as it often represents a shorter sentence.