The Prefects at The Bishops School ,Pune

The Prefects in Bishops

 

The Prefects in Bishops played a big role in the life of the school.

I remember vividly a number of meetings over the years to decide on the Head boy /Vice Head boy   House Captains and Prefects. It was customary for the Head boy to be a boarder for the umpteen duties that he had to perform and as long as I was there the Head boy was always a boarder.

For the other posts day scholars were eligible as well.

Mr Roberts would call a meeting of Senior members of staff to decide the same. The meeting was held in the hall which at that time was OUT OF BOUNDS FOR BOYS.

Names would be read out and a first list of potential candidates would emerge. Usually the ones who made this list were the top athletes/ footballers/ boxers/ debaters/ scouts /academic toppers/ boarders who had made an impact on the residential staff etc.

A joke over the years was ( and boarders would know this ) – the boarder who had taken up the night food ( Bones ) to Mr Beamons room for his dog ( smokie/ patchy ) was also one of the boys in the running !!

The first discussion was for the Head boy- this was usually not too difficult/ nor a cake walk for us  as we always had one or two boys who seemingly had done a great deal over the years and were well known to possess leadership qualities as well.

This was an important post and was hotly debated – at times for an hour.  The Dy was then the one who had losy out on the top post for some reason or the other.

The rest were then slotted in ensuring that there was a representative for all the major events in the school. The House Captains appointment was usually the prerogative of the House Master / Mr Roberts also had a say if he felt it was a wrong decision. The moment he commented on the choice all the other teachers would butt in and add their point of view – quite a free for all till order was restored by the boss !

The Fernandes brothers who were pillars of the school made sure one or two of their scouts were in the list . Mr Beamon made sure his pet boys of the boarding were there as well ( while he was boarding suptd ) .I had a big say after I took over as First Asst Master  and later as Headmaster in 1987.

I ensured that the top Debaters were in the list.

Each Dormitory had a Dorm Prefect in charge as well and so the Dorm Masters all fought for “their boys”

Practices were then held on the uppers and the big day was solemn with badges and ties being handed over  and a flag presentation ceremony  etc .

Prefects then took official charge of the school – the first few weeks saw a lot of punishments – boys hopping about for being late / taking rounds / writing lines/ sitting in class during games period and the like . The dormitory prefects usually lorded it over the boarders in their respective dormitories – sharing your tuck with the prefect was commonplace – so also cleaning their shoes, taking their clothes for ironing , making their bed etc. In return they offered protection! Dormitory prefects were very tough as well and they made the life of the Dorm Master pretty easy. Yes they beat up boys a great deal but those were different days and there were no complaints whatsoever. In my 20 years at Bishops never did I receive a complaint that a prefect had beaten a boy or that a boy had been punished  and it happened regularly – boys were tough those days .

The day scholar prefects were as tough and they ensured that classes were in control and that boys got to class on time .

Let me tell you that the prefects were far from saints themselves and a number of them were caught up to various tricks over the years ( not going to go into details here !! )

A few had their badges taken away by the Principal and having to stand in line all over again was something no prefect ever wanted to do . The badge was usually returned after a week or so and there were no hard feelings and all was well.

The smaller and weaker Prefects were in charge of the Jr clases and went there for assembly – a job they enjoyed as they missed the senior school assembly which was lengthy and at times difficult – especially when Mr Roberts was in one of his moods to fire those who did not study !

The boarder prefects had the Prefect on duty rule and so one of them was on duty every two weeks or so- from 6 am till 9 pm.

They had to ring the bell for the boarders (and if they rang it a minute early or late Mr. Beamon chewed them up!).

They also did uniform and shoe checks in the dormitory before the boys left in the morning and evening and God forbid a boy was caught with dirty unpolished shoes or a dirty untidy uniform.

The Prefects also took the boys for worship on Sundays – down Main Street to church/ temple/ mosque and also to the gurudwara near the race course. This was a duty the Prefects and sr boys enjoyed for a number of reasons – seeing the St Mary’s TTC girls being one of the major ones . (I can see a number of you chucking as you read this )

The social with St Helena’s was another place to show off their badges ! So also the Founders church service and the march past .

 The names of the Prefects also went up on a board in Harding hall and hopefully is still there for posterity.

All in all it was a good system- it instilled moral values, made men out of boys, taught discipline &  taught them leadership.

PLAY UP BISHOPITES - NEVER LET YOUR COLOURS FALL