Billionaire Oprah Winfrey will close the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) in its current form at the end of the 2027 academic year and transfer the Gauteng campus to the provincial Department of Education as she restructures the education initiative around a wider scholarship programme.
The residential school in Henley on Klip, south of Johannesburg, will continue operating as an education facility under government management, with the transition forming part of the original partnership agreement between Winfrey’s organisation and South African authorities.
The move will see Winfrey’s foundation shift from managing a single residential campus to funding scholarships for academically talented girls attending leading schools across South Africa.
According to the academy, the new model is expected to provide educational opportunities for twice as many girls compared with the current campus-based approach.
“The dream was never simply to build a school. It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women,” Winfrey said in a statement.
