Another school for Oprah's South African project

US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey is today set to open an innovative, environmentally-friendly school she funded with the South African government.

Seven Fountains Primary School in Shayamoya, a 12 million rands (€1.2m) “model state education facility” is in a remote town in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.

It was funded by Winfrey’s Angel Network, a public charity that supports organisations and projects focused on education and literacy initiatives.

The school, which will serve about 1,000 children, will be run by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education.

The opening event comes as authorities at an exclusive private academy for poor girls that Winfrey opened in January dismissed complaints it is too strict.

Seven Fountains has been designed using environmentally responsible principles and was built with the community’s participation, a joint statement from the department and Winfrey’s organisation said.

Winfrey opened her Leadership Academy for Girls outside Johannesburg to great fanfare on January 2 with celebrities like Tina Turner and Spike Lee in attendance as well as former president Nelson Mandela.

The lavish $40m (€58m) school was the fulfilment of a promise she made to Mandela six years ago and aims to give 152 girls from deprived background a quality education in a country where schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid.

“This school is a symbol of leadership for Africa,” Winfrey said at the time.

But some parents have complained to local media that academy’s rules which allow girls only one visit a month, limits their mobile phone calls and consumption of junk food are too restrictive.

“It was a nightmare,” foster parent Frances Mans told the News24 website. “We had only two hours to see my child. Surely this isn’t a prison or an institution?”

Mystery also surrounded the departure of one of the girls due to illness and there have been other complaints about a lack of respect for African culture and tradition after one of the girls was allegedly refused permission to attend the funeral of a member of her extended family.

However, John Samuel, chief operating officer for the academy, dismissed the complaints and said the unhappy parents had raised their concerns with Winfrey over the phone.

“They have been in discussions with Ms Winfrey and they say they are satisfied that the girls are not being treated unfairly,” he said.

He said Winfrey had spent time at the academy meeting with staff and pupils ahead of today’s event.

Samuel said the academy tried to discourage parents from bringing the girls drinks or sweets as they were well-looked after and received a nutritious diet.

“Many of the parents are not rich or wealthy and we don’t want them to feel that they have to bring the girls food,” he said.

Samuel also dismissed complaints that the academy was culturally insensitive and said it was based on the African notion of ubuntu, which places an emphasis on the collective.

“We are very conscious of how we deal with people and have the community’s interest at heart,” he said.

Built on 52 acres, the 28-building campus resembles a luxury hotel, with state-of-the-art classrooms, computer and science labs and a library, theatre and wellness centre.

Each girl lives in a two-bedroom suite. It will eventually have 450 students.

But the school has been called elitist with ActionAid, a global development group, saying Winfrey’s money could have been better spent improving the quality of education for more children.