Can you imagine having to deal with seven sets of twins each day? That’s a huge challenge that a newbie teacher in Pangasinan, Philippines, has to face every single day of the school year.
It is teacher Fershalen Belen’s first time to teach in a public school, the Pangasinan School of Arts and Trades. But her new year in the school is marked not just by the usual challenge of taking on 60 students in one class but also because she has seven sets of twins in one section!
“Masaya po. Medyo nalilito lang lalo na po noong first day. Kahit ngayon napagpapalit ko pa rin mga pangalan nila,” the teacher revealed.
(I’m happy. I was a bit confused, especially during the first day [of classes]. Even now, I still interchange their names.)
According to the teacher, it was especially difficult for her to tell who’s who because the twins have the same hairstyles and wear similar clothing.
So, to help their teachers and classmates tell them apart, some of the twins decided to sport different hairstyles; though there’s nothing they can do about the clothes as they have to wear the school’s prescribed uniform.
Teacher Belen has found a solution to her dilemma. Instead of letting the twins sit together, she put them on different sides of the classroom so she can tell them apart. She has also taken to observing the twins closely to notice their differences, including small things like noticing a birthmark on one twin that’s different from the other.
She admits it is going to be difficult for her to get things perfectly but she welcomes the extra challenge in her classroom. This would certainly make things more exciting for the rest of the school year, right?