Beefing up the role of prefects is being seen as a solution to a problem of violence in schools in Tonga.
Siale Ilolahia, from the Tonga National Leadership Development Forum, says prefects are often under-utilised and the forum is holding workshops to provide prefects with the skills to work with their schools to enact positive change.
Ms Ilolahia says the programme aims to provide prefects with the ability to successfully lead and address issues such as violence.
She says the programme has heard that prefects don't often have much say in what goes on in their schools, even though they have a number of solutions to problems.
"I think it's just facilitating the process and bringing them together to facilitate a process where they could develop themselves, rather than us coming with the standard go out and do it this way. And so what has come out is that they want to have a clear, structured way of making the voice of the school, through them, heard."
Siale Ilolahia says the prefects will be the future leaders of Tonga and it makes sense to foster their leadership abilities while they're young.
