Being a prefect in 2019: Schools adopt bizarre policies
Being school captain is no longer a popularity contest, with complicated and bizarre policies now making it increasingly difficult to become elected. WHAT DO YOU THINK? TAKE OUR POLL
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Being school captain is no longer a popularity contest, with complicated and bizarre policies now making it increasingly difficult to become elected.
A Daily Telegraph investigation into student election policies reveals schools are adopting a myriad of different processes, with some banning captains while others are making the roles genderless and some even have teachers deciding the winner regardless of the results of the popular vote.
At Oran Park public school, students must record their speech on a video which is then shown to students in Year 2 to Year 5. But it is a sham election — because the school executive decide who is the winner.
The captains’ duties include emptying school recycling bins and running school assemblies.
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P and C Central Coast president Sharryn Brownlee said school captains should not be put on bin duty — and said schools had to be honest about the democratic process.
“I think you have to be consistent, you’re either having an election or you’re not, and stepping in at the last minute because you don’t like the message is sending the wrong message about democracy,” she said.
Ebenezer Public School in Sydney’s northwest has made their captain and vice-captain positions “non gender specific” this year. Posters, props, technology use are strictly forbidden and there must be “no incentives or inducements to vote.”
Maroubra Junction Public School has a seven page dossier stipulating the minutiae of voting procedure, where students must pass multiple rounds of voting, similar to US election primaries.
On the North Shore, Roseville Public School holds snap elections with no warning, “so the chance to campaign, etc. is reduced”.
Teacher educator and CEO of the Australian Tutoring Association Mohan Dhall said the complex policies have been developed to address power struggles among highly competitive parents.
“Some families know the rules and everybody else is blocked out,” he said.
“There seems to be some parents who are very vested.”
North Parramatta Redeemer Baptist School headmaster Russell Bailey said in their Kindergarten to Year 12 school there were no official prefects.
“We want all of Year 12 to be leaders,” he said.
“We want them all to be leaders in the community once they leave school.”
He said instead of official leadership position, some students were offered a chance to go to a camp to volunteer and help the needy in regional NSW.
A Department of Education spokesman said principals were best placed to make decisions about student leadership positions.
“Parents, teachers, students and carers are encouraged to reach out to their school principal if they have any queries or concerns relating to the selection of student leaders,” he said.