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To examine randomly selected teachers' views regarding corporal punishment at secondary schools in Lesotho 36 women and 24 men whose ages ranged from 23 to 60 years responded to a questionnaire. Analysis of responses confirmed that corporal punishment was the most frequently used disciplinary method although dismissal from class, retention after school, and verbal reprimand were used.

This article argues that the exponential increases in the Grade 12 (Matriculation) passes post 1994 do not necessarily translate to quality because of the low performance norms and standards set for passing Grade 12. It further calls for a serious reflection and interrogation of existing policies on performance, benchmarks, teacher education programmes, school leadership and governance in a highly unionized school environment. An overhaul of the provisioning and management modalities is required to enhance South Africa"s competitiveness in the knowledge economy.

This article explores the challenges facing the South African National Department of Education in its commitment to provide equal educational opportunities for all. The Story of Nothemba is central to the theme of this paper. It describes the story of a South African girl born in eQebe, whose physical disability and systematic disregard for her constitutional rights dashed her life time dream and passion to become a lawyer in a democratic South Africa. The paper argues for a critical interrogation of the following dynamics that have the potential to complicate both the implementation and optimization of the Inclusive Education Policy: (i) Understanding the social stereotypes about disability, (ii) Teacher empowerment, (iii) Systemic imbalance between support and expectations, (iv) Adopting relevant curriculum policy and assessment strategies and practices, and (v) Utilizing the research logic to inform policy implementation. The paper further calls for a robust interrogation at conceptual level about ‘disability' to inform the current policies on education and training, teacher training and development, curriculum and assessment strategies.

This article critiques a proposed policy by the Gauteng Department of Education to reclassify province's "Township" schools. In 2016, Gauteng MEC for Education Panyasa Lesufi announced that province's schools will be reclassified to obliterate the "Township" School Tag commonly associated with the past regime. The reclassification is based on a three-pronged school performance category in a) Matric pass rates, b) Maths and Science passes and c) Bachelor passes. The new classification is arbitrarily divided into the following categories: 1) Poor schools with 0% to 40% performance; 2) Fair schools with 41% to 60% performance; 3) Good schools with 61% to 80% performance and; 4) Great schools with 81% to 100% performance. It is argued that the three tier classification criteria lack theoretical rigour and explication to justify policy's credence and implementability. It further argues that "Township schools" exist in real geo-spaces, and changing name tag shall not obliterate their geographic presence. It concludes by cautioning that classifying schools based on performance might have unintended consequences, for instance, schools tagged as "poor" might naturally disappear as parents would not want to enrol their children in schools state deem dysfunctional. Failure by both "Poor" and "Fair" schools to enrol adequate learners puts more pressure on rest of schools to accommodate additional learners. When learners' en-masse moves to urban schooling environments, it creates an operational conundrum and has potential to destabilize the educational provisioning processes and system in general. In a nutshell, the proposed reclassification of schools by the Gauteng Department of Education is flawed and unsustainable because it: a) waters down systemic challenges to simple act of rearranging of schools based on sectorial learner performance rather than holistic and research based form of rationality; b) fails to interrogate a suite of intertwined factors that underpin educational provisioning in its entirety; c) is sectorial in outlook and fails articulate modus operandi to institutionalize teacher efficacy and organizational effectiveness; d) obfuscates tenets for robust engagement on creative whole school improvement trajectories firmly anchored on solid research; e) will not enhance learner performance and quality education; and f) is an inconclusive political tinkering expedition devoid of sustainable beneficiation.