The Twinning of Schools Programme is innovative in the sense that those learners who have not had an opportunity to meet with other learners across different linguistic and religious identities have opportunities to interact with each other in order to improve their skills and relationships, to get exposure to environments that they haven’t been exposed to and moreover, to foster attitudinal changes amongst learners and school authorities. The programme benefits learners and teachers from both communities-culturally, morally, spiritually and socially. The initiative is the only way to bridge inequalities in South Africa’s educational system. The program helps in the establishment of a regular partnership between schools in relation to different activities. It strengthens the school’s staff and knowledge.

Currently, the department has succeeded in the twinning the following schools:
• Bovet Primary and Lyndhurst Primary Schools in Johannesburg East District
• Alexandra Secondary and Sandown High Schools, Johannesburg East District
• Cultura Secondary and Zithobeni Secondary Schools in Gauteng North District, Bronkhortspruit
• Reiger Park Secondary and Sunward Park High School, in Ekurhuleni South District.
These pairs of schools have demonstrated that through twinning the resources can be shared equally between schools and learners. Educators can participate in shared teaching and learning activities thus achieving improved learner performance. The Twinning Programme is one of the key strategic objectives of attaining the objectives of the Gauteng Province’s Transformation Modernisation and Re-industrialisation (TMR) program

Teachers and Principals and departmental officials were involved as collaborators and partners in this innovative process. Teachers and Principals brought in their teaching skills, expertise, and experience in terms of lessons planning, managing the schools and having good grades.

“It is a great opportunity for both schools to share resources and be able to assist each other in future” These words by Tshiamo
Kungwane, a learner from Sandown High School, summed up the opinions of most people during the launch of the twinning of Reiger
Park Secondary and Sunward Park High Schools in Boksburg. Both principals of these schools are ambassadors for Social Cohesion and Twinning Nationally and Internationally. Teacher and learner morale is high. Communities benefitted economically.

The Twinning of Schools Programme has bridged the gap between a Suburban schools and Township schools. It has brought hope for both learners and educators. The programme has a very huge impact in the community economically. Some schools are now coming on board. Twinned schools have received media attention about social cohesion. District Officials and other schools are positive about the programme. This programme has crossed the boundaries of culture and racial divide. Refurbishment of both schools as a result of the Twinning programme gave employment opportunities to the local community. Eradicating of inappropriate infrastructure as indicated in the National Development Plan (NDP) has also been achieved. Addressing unemployment in our communities as a result of the refurbishment was a great success. The department has revitalized Arts and Culture as required by the National Development Plan (NDP). Teachers have been exposed to use ICT in their teaching.

There was fear about the twinning programme: This was not easy at first when the schools learned about the concept of Twinning of schools. The fear was that each school would look at each other as a parasite school since one does not have enough resources such as Library, playing grounds as well as the finances. Some staff members felt that they were going to be merged and they would lose their identity. Some felt that if the current MEC, Panyaza Lesufi leaves the office, what would happen if the new MEC does not support the Twinning programme. The cultures, ethos, and language issues were also one of the fears. In terms of lessons learned, the different learning and teaching contexts experienced by staff from both schools broadens and deepens their professional expertise. Teachers have managed to share their experiences and expertise in curriculum matters. The morale of teachers in schools is very high now and they feel motivated. Skills and knowledge have been shared by teachers.

Support from the Department's Senior Management and Political Principal was crucial.The programme has been sustained since its inception in May 2015 to date. The Head Office and Districts are providing support and resources in all the schools in the province including conducting workshops and training where these are identified as areas needing attention. The programme does not solely rely on funding of some sort but it has been run by the schools themselves with the support from the department, parents and the school community. Even if the policies of the department could change, the programme will still run for the benefit of the poor African child. This twinning process (social cohesion) has transcended to the School management teams, Teachers, Learners, Parents and the community.

The Twinning of schools Programme can be replicated within South Africa and elsewhere. It can be adaptable to other contexts throughout the country and other countries that have spatial and resource inequality. The following can be applied to replicate the programme to other institutions or the organs of government:
•Road-shows: The two leading principals can be used to advocate the process in the district, provincially and nationally promoting the benefits of the twinning process. The Reorganisation of Schools (ROS) team from head office can also be in the better position to run with this process. The district officials especially the Institutional Development and Support Officials (IDSO) units can do road shows.
•Colloquium: All participants in the Twinning programme may be invited to share their successes and challenges of the programme. This would give a clear picture of the impact of the programme.

•Indaba: Members of the community may be invited for an advocacy

Research has shown that inequality in socioeconomic status is a major determinant of learner outcomes, and thus the Twinning of Schools Programme (which is part of the Re-organisation of Schools strategy) initiative aims to reduce this inequality. The Twinning of Schools Programme is improving the delivery of public services in ensuring that learners have equitable and quality primary and secondary school education leading to the relevant and effective learning outcomes. The twinning of schools has contributed to capacity building and transfer of skills as staff members from affluent and disadvantaged schools are sharing their knowledge. A number of communities of practices in subject specific areas have been established to share ideas, approaches, techniques and methods between partner schools. The Twinning programme has assisted in bridging the cultural gap and stereotypes amongst learners and teachers from different race groups. There is a stronger relationship between learners and teachers from different schools. The effectiveness and functionalities of schools governing bodies (SGB’s) has improved significantly.

The Lyndhurst and Bovet Primary Schools Twinning Programme won the 1st position (Gold) under the Category D: Innovation Award within the Sub-category: Innovation Award during the 2018 Gauteng Premier’s Service Excellence Awards. The Programme also passed the second round of evaluations of the 2018 United Nations Public Service Awards and was short-listed among the best projects for final review by the United Nations Committee of Expert in Public Administration.