Out of all the student leadership positions in the school, the Senior Prefectship position acts as a beacon that guides the Royal College. They are the link between the student body and the school administration. With over 100 years of history and tradition, this coveted position remains the most prestigious dream of all Royalists as the highest post of leadership available to a student. A select group of each student batch is chosen to hold this great responsibility for a period of one year as the Prefects’ Council and lead in almost every aspect of the entire student community with the fresh experiences that they gained as a student of the College. It is not just a dream that every Royalist holds dearly from the day they understand what the Royal College is all about, it is the responsibility for continuous progress and of maintaining the high standards that is expected from the Royal College.
Senior Prefects are first appointed as Probationary Prefects for a few months during which they are trained to be familiar with the system and the usual responsibilities of a Senior Prefect by the incumbent Prefects’ Council. This process can initially be extremely challenging because it requires a lot of long hours, considerable efforts and a massive amount of hard work to get used to the system and be able to handle all the work. However, it does guarantee the efficient transfer of currently ongoing work, projects and all future plans for changes and improvements if and where necessary. The official appointment as Senior Prefects is traditionally conducted during the Annual General Assembly in front of over 5000 students, the entire academic staff and all other invited special guests where the Prefects receive a sterling silver badge to replace the probationary card from the Principal, a memorable moment which no Senior Prefect will ever forget.
As a separate internal student organization, the Prefects’ Council of the Royal College has representative posts within the Council that allow it to function in cohesion with the school administration and staff. The Head Prefect along with the Senior Deputy Head Prefect represents the Prefects’ Council. Five other Deputy Head Prefects represent the Academics, Sports, Clubs & Societies, Information Technology and 5S & Infrastructure Development committees of the Council. All junior student leadership groups such as the Stewards, Junior Stewards, Junior Prefects and Primary Prefects are each led by two Senior Prefects independently. This structure helps the Council to efficiently cover every part of the school, allowing them to be more interactive with students in helping them improve and gain more experience.
Being able to work with people from all different walks of life, being engaged with an institution in a professional capacity and representing the school in front of all kinds of third parties provide valuable experiences for a Senior Prefect. The system allocates special responsibilities to each prefect but that does not stop any Prefect from being involved or helping out with the work of other committees. The skills and talents of any Prefect can always be put to use in almost any given situation. But most importantly, it teaches the strength of friendship and brotherhood regardless of any social boundary, and the value of hard work and dedication, along with unconditional love towards the College. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity that only a privileged few are lucky enough to experience.
Stewardship
Stewardship is the highest leadership position a student can achieve while still studying in school. They are selected from among the Grade 12 students in the beginning of their Advanced Level education. Their closeness to the student population makes them well suited to gather insights to couple with the previous experiences of Prefects which can be used for various improvements in the school structure.
Stewardship is considered a challenging role for an Advanced Level student. Balancing academics with all extra and co-curricular activities in which they participate may sometimes be mentally and physically demanding for them. Their most important days as a Steward are the days of the Royal – Thomian Battle of the Blues, the 2nd oldest consecutive cricket encounter in the world. Stewards are entrusted with handling the Boys tent with a crowd of thousands for the entire 3 day duration of the match which can be arduous. Their general responsibilities include various morning, interval and after school duties at different parts of the school during which they wear a laminated card indicating their post of leadership.
The two Prefects in charge of the Stewards are responsible for leading them as a group and also for duty allocations for general and special occasions. But they mostly, just like for all other junior groups, play the role of training them to sharpen their leadership qualities that may help them cope with the strenuous work of the possible future leadership positions.
Junior Stewardship
Junior Stewards are chosen straight after the Ordinary Level Exam of Grade 11 students. Most students use the long period which they spend awaiting results continuing their academic work elsewhere but Junior Stewards balance all opportunities that come with the long holiday period with another chance to increase their leadership experiences while working with the Senior Prefects.
Since they still have not started school for their Advanced Level work, they come to school on a schedule handled by the two Prefects in charge of Junior Stewards. They also wear a laminated card during school hours which indicates their post of leadership.
The two Prefects in charge of the Junior Stewards are responsible for leading them as a group and also for duty allocations for general and special occasions. Those Senior Prefects act as mentors for the young leaders in their quest to make the College and themselves prosper.
Junior Prefectship
The most senior leadership post for a student in the Middle Section is the Junior Prefectship position. It is a major responsibility entrusted to a student in order to shape his governance qualities and to train him to what the College expects of him in the future. Students spend years experiencing the school environment and the student community through extra and co-curricular activities, familiarizing themselves with the system and structure of the school for the chance to apply to a more mature and year-round leadership position before they start their Ordinary Level work.
Junior Prefects are appointed from among the Grade 9 students in the beginning of their last year in the Middle Section. They wear a badge with white shorts as opposed to the dark blue shorts of all other Primary and Middle Section students. Junior Prefects carry a fair amount of authority for a student of that age. Junior Prefects are delegated formal duties and are expected to perform them on a daily basis, and also attend duties at special events. Students who get appointed gain a great amount of knowledge and experience on what school life will be like once they enter the Upper Sections of the Royal College.
While carefully monitoring all the above mentioned aspects, the two Prefects in charge of Junior Prefects use this very stable platform to set standards as to what is expected from students as senior student leaders at this stage in their school career. Their strengths and weaknesses can be identified and worked on throughout an entire year, setting up a strong batch of leaders for the future.
Primary Prefectship
The first taste of the learning curve of leadership a young Royalist gets to experience is at the most senior leadership position in the Primary Section: Primary Prefectship. This is due to the tasks that are handed to them requiring more responsibility and being more practically based than duties they may have had during earlier stages. The two Senior Prefects in charge of Primary Prefects pay a great deal of attention to the young leaders, seeking to mould them into admirable personalities early in their lives. Since the students holding this position are from Grade 5, they are entrusted with basic duties that are restricted to the Primary Section.
Primary Prefectship is a great learning experience as it is the preliminary step of the long journey in becoming a true Royalist. This experience acts as an opportunity to build an unwavering bond among the boys of the batch, which will be invaluable in the years to come.
