On the subject of fairness, though it may seem surprising to some, I don’t think we found the regime unfair at the time. The slipper was just part of school life for us. We accepted it as normal. We didn’t like getting it but it wasn’t the end of he world. The teachers certainly did not use the slipper arbitrarily. There was always a reason for it. As I said in my article for Corpun, one can debate the ethics of using corporal punishment as a way of motivating students. All I can say is that it encouraged a very competitive atmosphere. Fear of the slipper was a big factor in getting us working hard. On the whole, if we used the available time well and made a real effort to prepare for the tests it was possible to reach the pass mark most of the time.