Fill us in on school twinning project

WHEN the “school twinning project” was introduced in February 2015, it was said to be the only way to bridge inequalities in South Africa’s education system.

The programme was to see “well resourced schools merge with their less fortunate counterparts, meaning there will be one principal, one governing bodyand one bank account for each twin project”.

This was to be a model for “non-racialism”, and to put pupils on an equal footing.

Panyaza Lesufi, Gauteng MEC for Education, at a media briefing at Lyndhurst Primary School said: “From 2017, there will be no school in Gauteng that will not be twinned with another school. There will be white teachers in township schools, and blacks in suburban schools”. Has this taken place? On May 14, 2015, Lesufi said: “We are building a non-racial education system to embrace Madiba’s vision of a rainbow nation.” Have we? Only confusion reigns. However, for all this wonderful rhetoric, the idea met with strong resistance. Schools were not interested in the project.

Of the seven pairs of schools selected for the pilot programme, only three pairs were twinned.

Peter Gonsalves wrote in The Star: “Twinning schools is an ill-conceived concept, as it is an attempt by government to shirk responsibility for the provision of adequate facilities required in order to properly educate a large portion of school children”. Too true. In December 2014, the MEC for Education said: “If I fail to do it (break down racial barriers) I will resign.”

What has happened to his much vaunted project, and if unsuccessful, will the MEC carry out his promise to resign? An update please Mr Lesufi. Germiston