Nqobane Primary in Dassenhoek, outside Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal, has twins in every class from grade R to grade 7, in total 21 sets.
It’s very rare to have 21 sets of twins in the same school and naturally, teachers often get confused.
“It’s a challenge being a teacher to twins. Let me make an example of what happened to me. One day I called one twin to my office to send him somewhere, it took the entire day for him to come back but when I stepped out of the office I saw his brother and shouted at him. I soon found out that I had shouted at the wrong person. We sometimes discipline the wrong twin,” says Principal Nkosinathi Zonid.
One class has four sets of twins.
“It is sometimes difficult because they look the same but have different characters. One is usually quiet and the other is naughty. That’s the strange challenge. It sometimes gets difficult to discipline them when they really look alike especially with the same hair-styles,” says a teacher Ntwenhle Mkhize.
Parents and pupils at the school are proud their school is unique.
“They do well in their studies when they are together but when they are separated their grades start to drop,” says a parent.
“It’s nice having twins but they sometimes get up to mischief. The girl twin is behaved but the boy is very naughty and teachers often complain that they have a difficult time with him,” says another parent.
The twins say they protect each other and always have someone to play with.
“Being a twin is nice but it’s sometimes a bad thing because when she gets up to mischief people think it’s me whilst it’s her,” says a pupil.
“It’s nice being a twin because my sister is always by my side when I get into trouble. She is always there for me,” says another pupil.
