I take exception to her claims that pupils "spend more time concocting lame excuses than learning how to succeed in life".

Has she visited a school where pupils sit day in and day out in classrooms without teachers?

These pupils are hungry, and many of them are from parentless homes.

Has Mphahlele ever asked a street child whether he has an ID, only to discover he has no birth certificate?

It is rich to suggest that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme can help children escape poverty when the logistics of contacting this department are impossible for many without cellphones, struggling to survive in a rural, hopeless situation.

Maybe Mphahlele should level her criticisms at those errant teachers who do not do their jobs, or at those NSFAS administrators who do not get their message out there that they can help. In my experience, pupils drop out for tragic reasons and not "plain laziness". The reasons are usually that they do not have a birth certificate or ID and no school uniform - so how does free education help them?

Mphahlele must get out there and become informed.