More than 1,000 prisoners in Wuhan, Hubei province, took part in the national self-study examination of higher education this month as part of rehabilitation efforts, Hubei Daily reported on Monday.

A total of 1,144 prisoners in Wuchang Prison in the city sat the exams from April 19 through 20, and it was rare for so many prisoners to take part at one time, the report said.

When the prison started to hold the exams in 2004, only 23 prisoners took part but since then the prison authority has issued awards to encourage participation, in order to raise the prisoners’ cultural level for better rehabilitation.

In the past 10 years, 6,827 inmates of the prison have taken part in the exams and 14 received college diplomas while in the prison.