Oprah Winfrey to Close South African Girls’ School in 2027—But It’s Part of the Original Plan

Oprah Winfrey will close her Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa at the end of 2027, with the post featuring a photo of Winfrey with uniformed students during an earlier ribbon-cutting event at the school. The boarding school near Johannesburg opened in 2007 after Winfrey’s discussions with Nelson Mandela on girls’ education and has graduated over 500 students, many of whom attended top universities.

The handover of the 52-acre campus to Gauteng’s education department follows the original agreement, with Winfrey shifting resources to an expanded national scholarship program intended to support twice as many academically talented girls from underprivileged backgrounds across South Africa.

At the end of the 2027 academic year, the expansive boarding school campus near Johannesburg is to be handed over to local education authorities as per the original agreement, her statement says. Students enrolled at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) who will not have graduated when it closes will be offered full scholarships elsewhere.

BBC

A Planned Transfer, Not a Failure

The BBC headline appears far more dramatic than the reality described in the article. Oprah Winfrey is not simply abandoning her boarding-school campus near Johannesburg. At the end of the 2027 academic year, she will transfer it to local education authorities under the agreement she established when the project began.

Describing the development only as a “closure” encourages readers to assume the school has failed or collapsed, when the article itself presents the handover as part of the original long-term plan. The media designed this headline to provoke outrage before readers reached the context.

There is room for a serious discussion about celebrity-led schools. Building a new institution around one wealthy founder can attract more attention than quietly funding existing public schools, teachers and local organisations. We should examine those models for sustainability, accountability and long-term impact.

However, that debate should begin with accurate information. Criticising Oprah for creating the school is one argument. Pretending that a planned transfer proves the project was suddenly shuttered is another. The latter relies on readers reacting to a sensational headline rather than reading what actually happened.