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Oprah Winfrey academy's pupils excel with 100% university-entry passes

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls class of 2019. Fifty-nine pupils wrote the IEB exams and achieved 197 distinctions.
The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls class of 2019. Fifty-nine pupils wrote the IEB exams and achieved 197 distinctions.
Image: OWLAG

The entire cohort of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (Owlag) class of 2019 can enrol for degree studies at university, after achieving a 100% bachelor’s degree pass rate.

In 2019, 59 pupils from the academy wrote the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) National Senior Certificate examinations and achieved 197 distinctions in total, 46 more than last year, the academy said.

Three pupils achieved six distinctions: Tshwanelo Mafatle, Khwezi Bhekwa and Tshepang Mpinga. 

Owlag said, overall, it achieved higher than the national IEB averages in 18 out of 19 subjects (excluding life orientation) in their exam IEB average.



“We are extremely proud of all our girls. Many, if not all of them, overcame significant challenges over the past five years and have come up on top. They not only leave academically successful, but they also leave resilient, courageous and tenacious,” the academy statement read.

A total of 11,678 full-time candidates, representing 227 schools, wrote the 2019 IEB NSC examination, with 89.51% achieving a bachelor’s degree pass.

The academy's executive director is Gugu Ndebele, a former CEO of Save the Children South Africa, who took up the position in February 2019. Ndebele previously spent 18 years at the department of education.

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