It is one of those things that now baffle you. Like how would you, in your sane mind, make someone’s son or daughter miss an entire day’ of learning for missing morning preps for only thirty minutes? 

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But this was a penchant of some teachers, who expended punishment for even the smallest transgression. 

For that matter, we avoided making mistakes when they were around. Sometimes you’d let loose your guard and you ended up in the punishment roll. 

These are some of the punishments we all hated. 

Uprooting a tree stump 

In my former school, Tambach High School, legend had it that there were some guys who were punished with uprooting a tree stump whose girth was the size of three overweight elephants. When guys went for morning preps, they reported to their ‘workstation.’ During all other breaks, they did too but when the night preps began they went back to their workstation. Up until we cleared high school, that was the most dreaded punishment. 

Washing the dining hall 

The dining hall was a huge and dirty mess. No matter how much scrubbing was done, it would still be dirty. Coupled with heavy tables and chairs, it would take one almost ages to clean it. If you were unfortunate to be punished to wash it, you’d regret the day you ever contemplated the small thing that brought all the trouble.  

Being given a mountain of ugali to eat 

It was a senior’s (form fours) thing to skip the line and go directly to where food was served. The 'monos' would wait in line for ages. But then sometimes tables turned and the deputy principal showed impromptu. The culprits would make do with a mountain of ugali, served on a bench where everybody would see to serve as a punishment. The monos giggles would serve as the background sound to the whole humiliation. 

Washing toilets 

The thing about the toilets was that it was always dirty. Especially the ones in the tuition block. You could see bacteria dabbing in those darn toilets. You dreaded having a running stomach. It was always a prayer for every student not to be found on the wrong side of the whims of the teacher on duty. You’d be forced to scrub dirt that has accumulated over the years, dirt that has since grown immune to any detergent.

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