Educational reform teaches prisoners crucial lessons in life

Inmates are being offered classes in cultural topics to aid their reintegration into society and reduce the level of reoffending, as Zhang Yan reports with Zhang Yi in Tianjin.

Zhou was overjoyed when his fellow inmates applauded him for winning third prize in a Chinese character dictation competition at Xiqing Prison in Tianjin.

In 2013, the 37-year-old, a former cashier at a chemical plant, was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to 10 and 1/2 years by Beichen District People's Court in the northern port city.