My school turned out to be a dumping ground for thugs with rich parents, who wouldn't be expelled no matter what, because they wanted your money. Out of my class of 20-ish, only a few -weren't- caned. I only went there cos I passed the exam for a subsidised scholarship, and my folks were suckered by the hype that 'it's a private school, therefore it has to be better'.
All the teachers had the mandate to issue canings, not just the head. Supposedly there was a log of what happened, but say you coughed or something, on the 5th stroke out of 6. The teacher would say 'now you've made me lose count boy' , and do another 6. It would then be entered in the logbook as 6.