00:00Prefects play a crucial role in maintaining order and setting an example for their peers in school.
00:04But what do other students think about them?
00:06Today we're venting into the qualities of a prefect, how they're selected, and how their roles are important in school.
00:11This is me, Aletha Banda, for Girls of Mute in Milongwe.
00:18Nelly, what do you think of the prefects at your school?
00:20Some of them, they're nice, and some of them, they're harsh. Others are rude.
00:24Sometimes they just don't want to listen to us. They get us in trouble, and we all have to pay the punishment.
00:32Janna, do you think prefects are important in school?
00:35I think they're important because they help maintain order among us students, because sometimes, hey, it's hard to handle us.
00:41As in, for the teachers alone, it's really hard.
00:44I need, what colleges do you think a prefect should have?
00:47A prefect should be humble, like a good example concerning the performance in class, so that other students should be like,
00:55oh, I want to be like that student. I'm a prefect.
00:57Janna, do you think the prefects here represent your needs and concerns?
01:01I feel as if they don't represent our needs. Everybody's saying that they're going to do this, they're going to do that.
01:06And now, after they've been elected as prefects, they don't do any of it. They just leave things the way they are.
01:11Have you had any bad experience with the prefects, and how was it resolved?
01:14See, when I was coming from the washroom, it was break time. Then, when I reached the classroom, it was already break over.
01:21So, the prefect for entertainment said that he would take my name and give it to the deputy head teacher, because I was working around.
01:28Then, a prefect in our classroom said she would write all the names. So, I was shocked.
01:33Yeah, and I don't think it was actually resolved, because I don't know how it ended with the deputy head teacher.
01:40All right. What about you?
01:42I don't think there's any issue, or there was an issue with the prefects.
01:46Must be nice.
01:48What about you, Jana?
01:49I've never had a bad experience with a prefect before, because I don't talk to people much.
01:54There you have it. We've all heard from the students on their views about prefects.
01:57As you're performing your roles as prefects, do you think there are some students that dislike you just because you're a prefect?
02:03I know that there are some students who dislike me. Mostly, to me, I tell them, even though you hate me, I'm still a prefect here.
02:09And I can still have power to tell you what to do. So, let's just put our prayers behind.
02:14Maybe I did something wrong to you. Please forgive me for that. But I'm still a prefect.
02:17I'm trying to help you, and this school will go better in the future.
02:20How do you guys handle conflicts here at school?
02:24Firstly, we try to negotiate with the students who are in the argument. Like, for example, there was an argument whereby the students were not given penalties with the referees.
02:36The referee didn't give penalties to the other students from the East Shift. So, they got angry, and they wanted to actually fight the teacher.
02:44So, we tried to meet those guys in the team and listen to their views. And after listening to their views, we took the views to the administration.
02:53If that's not working, their administration is going to take action in it.
02:58I previously talked to prefects at this school, and I've noticed that there are batches written directors instead of prefects. What is the reason for that?
03:05Indeed, we call them directors. And this, I think, started some three or four years ago. Some of the teachers went to Kenya to study what happens in the education sector there.
03:16And they learned that instead of calling them prefects, they're supposed to be called directors, as this is a training ground for leaders.
03:27So, as you're choosing your prefects, what basis do you use?
03:29For one to be chosen as a prefect, we look at the behavior, because he or she is going to be an example to the other students.
03:38And then we also look at how able can she or he communicate with others, because they are the ones who are going to be given instructions to be delivered to their fellow students.
03:48So, how do you ensure that the process of choosing these prefects is fair to everyone?
03:53We do advertise the posts, like we go to classes and announce, so that those who are interested, they can submit their names.
04:03And then we do conduct interviews, and then we tell them to go and start campaigning, and then the students vote for them using a secret parrot.
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