This essay tries to show in detail an overall view of the current situation of the penitenciary system, discussing the role of education as a Program of resocialization in the penal educational policy. Through a documental analysis and selection of oral statements concerning the public policy of Penitenciary Education in the State of Rio de Janeiro, with more than 30 years of experience, we try, among other questions, to understand the role that the school education performs in the penitenciary system, describing and analysing the relations between school education e resocialization within a penal system. Therefore, we propose to analyse an official version of educational policy developed within prisons; the perceptions that the teachers have in relation to this policy; and how prisoners or former students analyse the education process in which they participate. In view of this specificity of the topic and the scarce academic production in this area of study, we believe that this material will contribute to the discussion in the educational area, since this issue has been the object of study only by jurists, social scientists, social assistents and psychologists.