The campus will be transferred to the Gauteng provincial education department, while a national scholarship programme will continue to support academically talented girls…reports Africa Daily News Desk
Oprah Winfrey has announced that the school for underprivileged girls she established in South Africa will close at the end of next year, ending an initiative that has educated hundreds of students since it opened in 2007.
The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, located near Johannesburg, was founded after conversations between Winfrey and former South African President Nelson Mandela about the transformative role of educating girls. Mandela was among the guests at the school’s opening ceremony.
The academy said the closure follows a long-standing agreement that the campus would eventually be transferred to the Gauteng provincial education department. The school has been operated and funded by the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation since its launch.
In a statement issued by the academy on Wednesday, Winfrey said: “The dream was never simply to build a school. It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women. That mission doesn’t end with one campus. It continues in every girl whose future can be transformed through education.”
The academy said Winfrey’s support for girls’ education in South Africa would continue through an expanded national scholarship programme. The initiative will provide financial support for academically talented girls to attend leading schools across the country.
According to the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation, more than 500 girls have graduated from the academy since it opened. Alumni have gone on to study at universities in South Africa, the United States and Europe.
The Gauteng provincial government will assume responsibility for the academy’s 52-acre campus. The site includes 21 classrooms, six science and computer laboratories, a library housing 10,000 volumes and a 600-seat theatre.
Provincial authorities have not yet announced how the campus will be used after the academy closes. Gauteng Provincial Minister for Education Lebogang Maile said pupils currently enrolled at the academy would be able to complete their education without disruption.
He said those students would continue to receive uninterrupted financial support for the remainder of their studies. The academy attracted international attention shortly after opening in 2007 when several students alleged that a dormitory matron had physically and sexually abused them.
In response, Winfrey travelled to South Africa to meet students and parents, publicly apologised and commissioned an independent investigation into the allegations. The matron was later acquitted of criminal charges in 2010.
The academy has since become known for its focus on leadership development and academic achievement, offering facilities that include specialist science and computer laboratories, as well as arts and performance spaces.
