A three-day seminar starts on Friday aimed at rethinking rehabilitation programmes for prisoners.
Whanganui woman Marion Sanson, who is organising the event at the Quaker Settlement in Virginia Road, said a 2009 study showed that 52 per cent of inmates re-offended within five years of their release.
The seminar - open to the public - will look at how the system operates and discuss possible alternatives with people in the workforce.
One of the weekend's speakers, former Howard League for Penal Reform volunteer Jill Burdett, said she has seen first-hand how the prison system struggled to help inmates prepare for life outside.
"I saw the need to extend programmes currently available," she said.
"A large number of prisoners have poor reading and writing skills. The person I taught was extremely grateful - he was a wonderful student and very keen to learn but there was no programme in the prison that met his particular needs."
Ms Sanson said comparing New Zealand's prison population to the Netherlands showed there was an urgent need to rethink our system.
"In the Netherlands, out of a population of 17 million, the prison population is around 13,500. Compare this with the New Zealand population of four million and a prison population now close to 10,000 people."
Frank Greenall has been tutoring adult literacy for 10 years and recently completed a stint volunteering at the Whanganui prison. He said the classroom structure needed to change.
"Learning needs to be in an embedded context in order to be effective. A lot of inmates I've had experience with are not so much academic but often very practical."
Mr Greenall said prisoners should not be leaving without guaranteed employment and accommodation.
"There is never going to be enough private sectors willing to employ ex-convicts. The government needs to step in with supported employment opportunities, even if its just three days a week.
"Cost should not be an issue because it's cheaper than not doing it and having people re-offend."
The seminar will kick off at 6.30pm on Friday with a shared dinner and talk to follow. The programme will run from 9am on Saturday and Just Speak representative Dr Katie Bruce, who campaigned to raise the Youth Justice age, will give a presentation.
The seminar will conclude on Sunday morning, and there is a registration fee of $12.