The DHS Prefect system dates back to the first few years of the school, nearly 150 years ago.
Prefects fulfil a vital role at the school: they act as role-models to the rest of the learner body, they provide leadership to the boys, and they help maintain the ethos and traditions of Durban High School… as well as helping to maintain discipline in a large school in which members of staff cannot be everywhere at once!
There is a rigorous selection procedure for prefectship. To qualify for consideration, the boys must have completed their community service in Grades 8, 9, 10 and 11, and must have been appointed as mentors in their Grade 11 year. Every applicant is interviewed by a panel of senior staff. Every boy in the school votes for the prefects of their choice. Every member of staff indicates whether they strongly support, are neutral, or strongly disapprove of every candidate on the list, providing reasons for their choice. All of this information is put together into a selection matrix, and the Prefect selection panel then makes their choices.
The body consists of one Head Prefect, two Deputy Prefects and between 23 and 28 prefects. At DHS we have been very fortunate to have Head Prefects of outstanding calibre.
