Oprah Winfrey is ending her girls’ school in South Africa after 20 years — here’s why
Oprah Winfrey is ending her girls’ school in South Africa after 20 years — here’s why
Wesley StenzelWed, July 29, 2026 at 11:14 PM UTC
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Oprah Winfrey at her school for girls in South Africa in 2012Credit: STR/AFP via GettyKey points -
Oprah Winfrey’s school, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, will be returned to the South African Department of Education in 2027.
Winfrey will continue to invest in young women’s education through a scholarship program that spans all of South Africa.
A representative for the Color Purple star estimates that the scholarship initiative will double the number of young women who can access education through WInfrey’s program.
Oprah Winfrey’s school for disadvantaged girls in South Africa is ending an era.
The residential campus of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls will “conclude its role as the center” of Winfrey’s education program at the end of the 2027 academic year, the school announced Wednesday.
The campus is being turned over to South Africa’s Gauteng Department of Education, as laid out in the original partnership agreement. Winfrey will now focus her educational efforts on providing scholarships to female students throughout South Africa.
“Oprah Winfrey’s commitment to educating South Africa’s young women will move forward through an expanded scholarship program that will provide educational opportunities for academically talented girls from communities across the country,” a representative for Winfrey said in a statement. “Building on the legacy of OWLAG, the scholarship program will support young women at leading schools throughout South Africa, ensuring that Oprah Winfrey’s investment in girls’ education continues for generations to come.”
Oprah WinfreyCredit: Astrida Valigorsky/Getty
A Winfrey rep estimated that the scholarship program will double the number of young women who access education through the Color Purple star’s program.
“The dream that began with one academy will now reach even farther, opening doors for even more young women across South Africa, through scholarships and educational partnerships,” Winfrey said in a video explaining the development.
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“The dream was never simply to build a school,” Winfrey said in an accompanying statement. “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. I’m excited that this next chapter will allow us to reach even more young women across South Africa and continue the promise that began more than 20 years ago.”
The genesis for the school came in 2000, when Winfrey met with Nelson Mandela to discuss women’s education in South Africa. Two years later, Winfrey, Mandela, and then-Minister of Education Professor Kader Asmal broke ground at the site that would eventually house the school in Henley-on-Klip, Gauteng.
The school for grades 8-12 welcomed its first students in January 2007, and the first graduating class finished their time at the institution in 2012, with every student accepted into universities and colleges to continue their education.
Since then, the school has seen 870 graduates go on to continue their studies in higher education.
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“The mission continues,” Winfrey said at the conclusion of the video. “The promise Nelson Mandela and I shared 25 years ago remains the same today: to help young women discover their own power, transform their own lives, and, in doing so, transform the future of South Africa. That promise doesn’t end here, it just keeps growing.”
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
