After reading a Shenzhen Daily article about a hotline in the city for ex-prisoners, Tim Hutton, an English teacher from Australia, called the newspaper and expressed his willingness to help ex-prisoners learn English.

Hutton, who teaches at two schools in Shenzhen, said he wants to teach ex-prisoners basic English for free, so that they could find better jobs.

"What I want to do is also to help them not be forgotten by society when they come out of prison. I agree to the article that depression of ex-prisoners might lead them to commit crimes again. Gaining more working skills and having more access to work, they will be confident of themselves and believe they will live a bright life," Hutton said.

Hutton taught juvenile delinquents in an Australian school two years ago, which he says has prepared him to teach ex-prisoners, he said.

Hutton hopes he can start teaching English to them as soon as possible.

The founder of the hotline, Wang Jinyu, said yesterday that he welcomed foreigners willing to teach ex-prisoners English.

(Shenzhen Daily April 20, 2006)