Matric pupil yanked out of final exams at Oprah’s school, offered R15k to enrol elsewhere

A row has erupted between a mother from the North West and the Oprah Winfrey Academy for Girls (OWLAG) in Meyerton after her 17-year-old daughter was stopped from continuing with her matric final exams.

The prestigious boarding school founded by US talk show host and businesswoman Oprah Winfrey is in the spotlight again, with parents complaining about a stressful, high-pressure environment and mistreatment of pupils.

The parents that The Citizen spoke to say their daughters dread returning to OWLAG after school holidays.

ALSO READ: Matric exams get under way for the Class of 2023

The private school offers scholarships to girls from less privileged backgrounds to study Grade 8 up to matric.

OWLAG is among the top schools in the country that produce the best Grade 12 results.

‘My child was thrown out of boarding’

Unemployed mother Thato Modipane accuses the school of unfair treatment towards her teenage daughter.

Modipane said the teenager was expelled in August for alleged plagiarism, but was allowed to do her work by herself and finish matric.

The pupil was thrown out of school boarding, and was alone in Meyerton with no one to turn to for help, her mother said.

But OWLAG made a U-turn last week, barring the Grade 12 pupil from entering the premises to write her exams, according to Modipane.

“She has been going to school to do her work and prepare for exams. I received a letter dated 19 October, informing me that she has been withdrawn from the final exams.”

The Independent Examination Board (IEB) exams started in September. Her daughter had started writing before she was turned away at the gate last week.

“We had appealed the expulsion but it was denied. My child knows no one in Gauteng, she was thrown out just like that after spending five years inside OWLAG premises. The expulsion was very harsh, but at least she was allowed to finish and go.

“I relied on the school to help my child because they have education experts and all the tools needed for her to succeed, but instead she was left destitute. I just want them to allow her to finish writing,” Modipane said.

Help from other parents

A sympathetic person near the school accommodated the pupil after other parents mobilised to help while her mother raised money to travel to Gauteng.

Modipane told The Citizen that she asked the school to release her to her care while she was in Grade 10 because she was struggling, but her pleas were ignored.

ALSO READ: Nearly 40% of those who started didn’t get to matric in 2023

The school, she said, got rid of her to make sure its matric pass rate was not lower come January 2024.

“We wouldn’t be here if [executive director Gugu] Ndebele and the school’s social workers didn’t insist that she stay. I agreed because they are the experts, and now they complain about her performance in Grade 12.

“Where is she supposed to go write subjects such as Visual Arts and Computer Applications Technology? None of the township schools in Rustenburg offer such.”

‘Our children are dying slowly’

Another parent, Ntombi Motloung, said she has stopped helping poor families in Soweto to apply for OWLAG scholarships.

“I just want my child to finish and come back home. They will not tell you this – but many of the girls are struggling to cope because of the constant pressure heaped on them.

“That school has changed since Ndebele took over. I have been writing emails to the school and to Oprah herself, but received no response.

“Our children are dying slowly, many of the girls are on medication because of the stressful environment,” said Motloung.

Another parent who didn’t want to be identified for fear of reprisal against her child said what Winfrey started in 2007 has been eroded.

“OWLAG puts the girls under unimaginable pressure, it is not a healthy environment.

“The school is no longer the same. Even kids from privileged families have been admitted these recent years.

“The original OWLAG founding purpose of nurturing destitute girls has been thrown out the window, this needs to be exposed,” she said.

Privacy

The Citizen sent questions to OWLAG executive director Gugu Ndebele, enquiring why the teenager was stopped from writing.

Ndebele didn’t answer the specific questions, citing confidentiality.

“We do not comment or share specific information on any student to protect their privacy. OWLAG has provided a world-class education since 2007 for girls who show leadership potential despite their disadvantaged backgrounds.

“Since 2018, recognising that many of the girls have come from trauma-challenged backgrounds, the school implemented a trauma-informed care approach (the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics) for teaching, learning, caregiving and as a way of life at OWLAG,” Ndebele said.

School offers R15k

Meanwhile, the group of parents managed to find a lawyer to help Modipane pro bono.

This week, Jabu Rakwena, of Van Rensburg Kruger Rakwena Attorneys, wrote to OWLAG, threatening litigation should Modipane’s daughter not be allowed back in the examination room.

In response, OWLAG attorneys Cheadle Thomson and Hayson Inc. offered R15 000 in tuition fees and other needs. They suggested that Modipane’s daughter repeat matric at another school in 2024.

The letter, seen by The Citizen, dated 31 October also detailed the teenager’s alleged transgressions and underperformance.

“Since her enrolment, she has struggled to submit work on time and to apply herself in class and in
assessments. Her challenges and academic performance worsened in Grade 10 and Grade 11 years.”

The school suggested that she repeat Grade 12 in 2024 at a public school near her home “in order that she could obtain a fresh start with a clean record”.

They offered a once-off payment of R15 000 towards her school fees in 2024 and the purchase of uniforms and textbooks.

She would also be allowed to keep the device she was issued by OWLAG to use at the public school in 2024.

Modipane has until Friday to accept the offer, failing which it will lapse and won’t be offered again.

Negotiations between the parties continue.

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