Prestige in form VII: A comparative field study

Abstract

Form VII is a unique phenomenon in the school system since it is the final year for students who have successfully passed all the formal requirements of the secondary education system. Form VII students have qualified for University Entrance but elect to continue their studies for an additional year at school. They are the senior students of the high school. The Form VII year is also a year of transition. From about the age of five they have been subject to the supervision of teachers acting in loco parentis but since Form VII students will move on, at the end of the year, and most will become university students, this final year is one where they must add to their maturity and must develop their ability to study independently. Consequently, the nature of the relationship between these students and their teachers and school administrators changes from what it was earlier. Their relationship with the many high school students who are their juniors, also changes. The larger the secondary school, the more likely it is that these senior students who are now classified by the school as a unit, Form VII, will have been brought together from a variety of different working groups. At the Form VI level, a student's selection of academic subjects and his past academic record, usually determine the group in which he will study. There may be many sixth forms; some emphasizing Science and Mathematics, others Commerce or Foreign Languages or Social Studies, while others, again, may be General.