When I first came to my secondary school I was all kinds of confused about which way was up, why things are done in this way and that, why are we praying every morning and at noon, what the difference between form 401 and 402 and where does that put year 10 A, and what are prefects and what do they do? Other than show the first years to their dormitory and how to get past the portrait of the fat lady or whatever secret passage they have in order to get into their house dormitory.
I’m just now starting to figure some of these things out, and I’ll be thrilled if by the end of my two-year service I can explain my secondary school as well as the Fijian school system effectively.
Note: this is mostly based on my observations and conversations I’ve had with school staff and administration. If your secondary school in Fiji is different please tell me how so and what they do differently.
Years and Forms
A vs. B or 01 vs 02
Students that are in Form 301 aka Year/Class 9 A are students that, in my school, take iTaukei (Fijian) language classes instead of Agriculture.
Students that are in Form 301 aka Year/Class 9 B are students that, in my school, take Agriculture classes instead of iTaukei.
Fijian School American School
Form 301/2 aka Year/Class 9 A/B Freshmen in High school
Form 401/2 aka Year/Class 10 A/B Sophomore in High school
Form 501/2 aka Year/Class 11 A/B Junior in High school
Form 601/2 aka Year/Class 12 A/B Senior in High school
Form 7 aka Year/Class 12 Super Senior
For the most part this is similar to American schools, except for the form 7, which is required if they want to attend university. Just kidding, I just asked another teacher for clarification, and am now even more confused.
Apparently:
One can repeat form 3 multiple times or one can drop out and stay in the village for the rest of one’s life if one does not want to continue with schooling (theoretically, I’m not sure what the “it’s ok to drop out year” is, but I think there technically is one. It was hard to get a straight answer about how many times one can repeat.)
One can repeat form 4, 5, 6, and 7 once each if one doesn’t pass one’s final marks (grades) or exams. If one doesn’t pass form 4 the second time around then they are sent to the vocational school to learn about catering and tailoring (hospitality services) or carpentry and jewelry (C&J). If one wants to attend university, they must complete Curricular or Vocational School until form 7.
Most of the students in my school will likely remain in the village and work as farmers or housewives. Some might go into the hospitality or service industry, and we have very few students who attend University that will ultimately end up in white-collar jobs, but the number is rising.
Student Council
The student council is comprised of (in ascending hierarchical order) Form Captains, Assistant Form Captains, Prefects, Deputy Head Girl/Boy, and Head Girl/Boy
For every class (A and B) there is a Form Capitan and Assistant Form Captain. Their role is:
- Make sure classroom duties are done
- Classroom duties include:
- Sweeping the floor
- Disposing of rubbish (trash)
- Cleaning the rafters (window pains)
- Maintaining the outside of classroom garden/flower space
- Classroom duties include:
- Keep classes quit when teachers aren’t in the classroom
- Maintain some sense of order in the classroom
- Generally take responsibility of leading the form
- Lead morning devotional
- Pass out RSL (carrier) and bus tickets that take students to and from the village to school and vice versa
- Sometimes, this is in the event that the form teacher (think homeroom teacher) is lazy. Generally the form teacher or assistant form teacher is responsible for this.
I’m not 100% clear what Prefects do, I’ve tried asking people, but I haven’t gotten a straight answer. From my observation I believe they are and do these things:
- They are students in forms 5, 6, and 7
- Students in lower forms 3 and 4 do not have prefects
- There are two prefects in each class (A and B), one boy and one girl.
- Assist teachers with order and discipline
- Help lower forms 3 and 4 with order and duty time
- Assist lower form captains with their roles and responsibilities
- Perform Flag Raising
- Lead/Run Afternoon Assembly
- In my school they do not show first years to the dormitories and teach them how to get through the magical portal into their house dormitories within Hogwarts.
The Head Girl and Boy and the Deputy Head Boy and Girl
- Form 7 students
- In charge of the prefects and form captains
- Have the same responsibilities as the prefects
Breakdown of the School Schedule
8-8:30 AM- Form Time
- Morning Duties
- Students are expected to clean the classroom and special areas (Library, Office, Staff Bure, Washrooms, Home Ec Room, etc.)
- Flag Raising
- In the US we have the morning Pledge of Allegiance, in Fiji we all stand while somebody beats the lali as the flag is raised on the daily.
- Devotional
- Students read a passage from the bible, sing a hymn, and then lead a prayer.
- I know what you’re thinking, and yes. There isn’t really separation between church and state in Fiji. Most of the schools are funded by some religious entity (mostly Methodist), and the government funds very few schools in the country. Our school has a talatala (reverend) who is our school chaplain and the guidance counselor.
- Staff announcements
8:30 AM-10:30 AM- Morning Classes
10:30-10:45 AM- Recess/Tea Time
- On Thursdays the staff contribute to a morning tea held in the home ec room. Generally I’ll try to bring something either from the states/New Mexico. I made guacamole and the teachers loved it.
10:45-12:45 PM- More Classes
Noon- Prayer
- Either the form students will lead their classroom in a prayer or our talatala will lead the whole school in prayer over a sort of PA system.
12:45- 1:30 PM- Lunch
1:30-3:30 PM- Afternoon Classes
3:30-4:15 PM- Extra Afternoon Class
- This also includes school compound clean up and beautification meaning, students rake the grass that’s been cut, cut away overgrown plants with machetes, take the raked up grass and bush to be burned, pick up the rubbish, sweep and mop the footpaths, clean the washrooms, sometimes clean the outside and inside walls of the classrooms, and generally clean around the school compound.
4:15- 4:45 PM- Afternoon Form Time
- Afternoon duties, exactly the same as the morning ones
- Form teachers or captains distribute RSL and Bus Tickets
- All school assembly
- Students line up according to which village they are going home to or if they stay in the hostel (dorms).
- Lowering of the flag, assuming it hasn’t rained and been taken down earlier in the day.
- Prefects and/or Head Girl/Boy give all school announcements.
- Dismiss Students
7-9 PM- Extra Night Classes for Form 6 and 7
Students stay in their form room the whole day while the teachers move from classroom to classroom. When we don’t have a class we either stay in the staff bure, library, computer lab, or go home to rest.
If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or general bitchiness please leave it in the comments section, and I will try to answer them in a follow-up post.
Ili in the Interior 