{"id":882635,"date":"2026-11-04T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=882635"},"modified":"2026-11-04T06:49:36","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T04:49:36","slug":"prominent-private-school-closing-its-doors-after-two-decades-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/education\/882635\/prominent-private-school-closing-its-doors-after-two-decades-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Prominent private school closing its doors after two decades in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) will close its residential campus at the end of 2027, ending nearly two decades of operation as an independent educational institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The property will be handed back to the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) after the 2027 academic year, in accordance with the original partnership agreement between the department and the academy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the closure of the campus does not mean the end of Oprah Winfrey\u2019s investment in girls\u2019 education in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The programme will continue through an expanded scholarship initiative to support academically talented young women at leading schools across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winfrey announced the changes on 29 July 2026 and said the residential campus would conclude its role as the centre of the programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the decision marked a new chapter for the initiative, which was established to give academically gifted girls access to the resources and opportunities needed to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe dream was never simply to build a school. It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women,\u201d Winfrey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat mission doesn\u2019t end with one campus. It continues in every girl whose future can be transformed through education.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that the expanded scholarship programme would allow the initiative to reach more young women across South Africa and continue the work that began more than 20 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The academy also confirmed that every girl currently enrolled would complete her education with uninterrupted academic, financial and personal support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since opening in January 2007, the institution has educated more than 1,000 students. It provided an exceptional environment for academically talented girls from communities across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea for the school dates back to December 2000, when Winfrey and former President Nelson Mandela discussed creating an educational opportunity for girls in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two years later, on 6 December 2002, Winfrey, Mandela and then education minister Kader Asmal officially broke ground at the future school site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winfrey will continue her support <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The academy initially operated as a public-private partnership with the Gauteng Department of Education before becoming an independent school on 20 August 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winfrey personally contributed $40 million towards the establishment of the institution through the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school officially opened its doors in January 2007, with its first graduating class of 72 students completing their studies in January 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, the academy became one of the country’s most recognisable private educational institutions, with its residential campus and substantial investment in girls’ education attracting considerable attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement of its planned closure comes as the institution approaches its 20th anniversary in 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the academy has been notably quiet on its official social media channels since the announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the three months before Winfrey revealed the changes, the school published 15 posts highlighting activities and events at the institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These included its Mandela Day celebrations, choir and library activities, drama productions, Child Protection Week initiatives and annual Teachers\u2019 Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The academy also shared photographs of its engagement with Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube. Its Facebook and LinkedIn accounts have not published new content since the announcement was made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last post on LinkedIn was published on 25 June 2026, while its Facebook page’s last post was published on 18 July 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There has been no public explanation from the academy for the lack of updates on its social media platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the transition ending the academy’s current residential school model, it does not end Winfrey’s commitment to providing educational opportunities for academically talented girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos of Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) will close its residential campus at the end of 2027, ending nearly two decades of operation as an independent educational institution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":882648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2117996549347147889","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2260726274747771","_sma_instagram_post_id":"18342549880259620","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26526],"tags":[27039,27038],"class_list":["post-882635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-gauteng-department-of-education-gde","tag-oprah-winfrey-leadership-academy-for-girls-owlag"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882635"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":882654,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882635\/revisions\/882654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}