HIGHER EDUCATION AS A HUMAN RIGHT IN PRISON: POLICY IMPLEMENTATION GAPS AND EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN ECUADOR

Abstract

This article examines the gap between the formal recognition and material realisation of the right to higher education for incarcerated people in Ecuador. Drawing on a qualitative single-case study, the research combines documentary analysis of constitutional, legal and policy frameworks with semi-structured interviews with public policy experts, university administrators and incarcerated or formerly incarcerated students. The findings show that Ecuador has developed a rights-based legal architecture that recognises persons deprived of liberty as a priority group and frames education as part of rehabilitation and social inclusion. However, the implementation of higher education in prison remains constrained by unstable funding, restricted access to digital technologies, weakly formalised procedures, security-driven logistics, uneven pedagogical adaptation and fragile mechanisms for academic continuity. The article argues that rights-based recognition is necessary but insufficient: higher education becomes a real educational capability only when supported by institutional capacity, sustained public investment, secure but meaningful connectivity, differentiated academic support and stable governance arrangements between prison authorities and higher education institutions. By analysing Ecuador as a Global South case, the study contributes to debates on educational development, human rights and social justice by showing how formally recognised educational rights may remain partially symbolic when implementation capacity is insufficient.