THE educators at Mcopheleli Primary School in KwaDabeka are beaming with pride after two of their learners, Emihle Mkhize and Ntandokazi Radebe, were accepted at The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG).

OWLAG is a Gauteng boarding school for girls in grades 8-12.

The school is a project started by the American philanthropist Oprah Winfrey in 2002, after a discussion with former South African president Nelson Mandela in 2000.

The two learners are among 66 girls from South Africa who will start Grade Eight at the school this year.

Principal of the school, Themba Mazibuko, said their acceptance to the school is a result of hard work, commitment and dedication from the teachers.

Also read: Gillitts Primary School learner awarded prestigious scholarship

“The learners also worked hard for them to be accepted. The two learners have been at the school since Grade R and have always been dedicated learners; we really pride ourselves,” said the proud principal.

According to Mazibuko, they had a learner that was chosen to attend the school.

She is now working and stays in Cape Town. She is flourishing, that is what we want for Emihle and Ntandokazi,” he said.

To be accepted at the school, Head of Department Nonhlanhla Motloung said the learners filled in forms, wrote tests and went through a few interviews.

Emihle said she is delighted at being accepted at the prestigious school while Ntandokazi said this is an opportunity to change her situation at home.

Their mothers said it is unbelievable and everything feels surreal.

“We are proud of our girls, it will be a bit hard to let go of them, especially as they are still young, but we wish them all the best.”

Their teachers echoed the same sentiments as the school’s principal, and said the two learners worked very hard and were a pleasure to teach.

The school also thanked Noxolo Hlongwane, the Durban chief programme manager for Numeric, who has been helping the learners at the school with mathematics and also encouraged them to make use of this opportunity.

Numeric is a small team of people who are on a mission to help young South Africans excel in mathematics.

Their goal is to create exciting and high impact learning environments. They operate in low-income areas with a view to helping learners in Grade Seven establish strong foundations in mathematics and develop the next generation of well-equipped and passionate teachers.

For more from the Highway Mail, follow us on Facebook , X and Instagram. You can also check out our videos on our YouTube channel or follow us on TikTok.

Click to subscribe to our newsletter here