Oprah Winfrey closing girls' school in South Africa

Oprah Winfrey is shuttering her girls' school in South Africa after 20 years.

In 2007, the media personality opened the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in Gauteng Province, following a discussion with former South African president Nelson Mandela five years prior.

With the academy, Winfrey sought to provide education and leadership opportunities to girls from disadvantaged backgrounds.

But on Wednesday, the former talk show host announced that the residential campus will close at the end of the 2027 academic year and be returned to the Gauteng Department of Education, per the "original partnership agreement".

"(The dream) continues in every girl whose future can be transformed through education," the 72-year-old said in an update posted to Oprah Daily. "I'm excited that this next chapter will allow us to reach even more young women across South Africa and continue the promise that began more than 20 years ago."

Current students will complete their education with "uninterrupted" academic and financial support.

More than 1,000 students have graduated from the school, with many going on to pursue higher education in professional fields.

And in a separate statement to People, a spokesperson explained that the remaining students will be channelled into a scholarship programme in which they will "go to other top-tier schools with their tuition paid for in total by Ms. Winfrey through their graduation".

"That is the core of the decision to shift to this new model after seeing the success of the students (over) the past 20 years," they added.