MaP's Uniform
For a start, Botswana is a hot country. The old school blazer and tie just don't make much sense in a climate like ours. They aren't practical.
So, we have very simple dress requirements - black trousers and white open-collared shirts - and, when students step over the line, we ask them to change.
Our belief is that students need to focus on learning, not on trying to look exactly like every other student.
We cherish the differences in our students: different faiths, different languages, different learning styles and yes, the modest differences in their daily dress.
Does this mean we have undisciplined students? Hardly.
We value discipline of a more enduring kind - namely, self-discipline. We expect our students to practise the extraordinary self-discipline that results in outstanding performance based on sacrifice and commitment: in the classroom, on the playing fields, on the stage and in the community we serve.
Some schools do daily battle with their students over the typical adolescent attempts to push the envelope on school uniforms, battles over what is and what is not permitted and exactly how the uniform should be worn. It's a timeless and time-wasting ritual, a shop-worn battle that bears little fruit in the challenging business of expecting and achieving academic, sporting, cultural and service excellence.
Instead, our teachers can focus on positive reinforcement of what our students are doing right.
What if we accept the premise that -- beyond simple dress requirements and the reasonable expectation that clothing be neat, clean and appropriate -- it is actually desirable that students exercise a bit of discretion over what they wear every day?
As educators, we're in the business of helping our students make suitable choices. Maru-a-Pula's dress requirements give our students an opportunity to practice the art of making appropriate choices, of exercising self-discipline.
By contrast, while school uniforms might look satisfyingly snappy and reassuringly traditional, do they instil the enduring value of true self-discipline?
Besides, it's a hot country. So, you tell us: should we require all MaP students to tuck in their shirts?