Oprah Winfrey has announced that her South African school for girls will conclude operations in its current form at the end of the 2027 academic year.
The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls is based in Henley-on-Klip, Gauteng.
It opened its doors in January 2007 to provide high-quality education to academically talented girls from disadvantaged communities.
The academy will graduate two more classes before its current residential schooling model ends.
Students who remain enrolled after that will be placed at other leading schools, with Winfrey covering their tuition until they graduate.
Government to take over campus
The academy’s campus will be handed over to the Gauteng Department of Education.
The provincial government is expected to continue operating the facility as a school.
The transfer forms part of the original agreement behind the establishment of the academy.
While Winfrey’s privately run school will close, the property will therefore continue to be used for education.
The announcement marks the end of a major chapter for an institution that has operated for nearly two decades.
Scholarship programme to expand
Winfrey said her commitment to educating young South African women would continue through an expanded scholarship programme.
“The dream was never simply to build a school. It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women,” she said.
The new model will support academically talented girls at leading schools across South Africa instead of concentrating the programme at one campus.
Her representatives said the change could double the number of girls receiving educational support.
The scholarship programme will begin after the academy’s current students have completed their schooling or moved to new institutions.
Mandela vision continues
The academy grew from discussions between Winfrey and former president Nelson Mandela about improving educational opportunities for South African girls.
Winfrey said the promise they shared more than 20 years ago remained unchanged.
She said the next phase would allow the initiative to reach more young women across the country.
Hundreds of academy graduates have continued into higher education since the first class completed Grade 12 in 2012.
Winfrey described the change as an expansion of the school’s mission rather than the end of her involvement in South African education.