Winfrey opens second South African school

US chat show queen Oprah Winfrey has opened a high-tech school for poor children in the South African town of Kokstad.Winfrey hopes the 12 million rand (£825,216) Seven Fountains Primary School is in eastern KwaZulu-Natal province will become a model for public education in the HIV-ravaged country.Pupils chanted "long live Oprah" and danced in celebration to welcome the billionaire TV host.The innovative, environmentally-friendly solar-powered school has 25 classrooms, a library, computer centre and two sports field.It also boasts a recycling system that harvests rainwater and uses seesaws and merry-go-rounds to pump water. Its landscaped gardens will supply vegetables for school meals.However, the opening of the school was overshadowed by media reports which claimed parents have complained that another school opened by the talkshow host is too strict.The private girls' academy is funded by the charity Oprah's Angel Network which focuses on education and literacy.The star denied the claims and insisted she merely had students' best interests at heart:Winfrey said: "The two parents who were in the paper said to me that they did say the school was strict but the school was also fair and it was necessary to be strict, and I said to the parents: 'If you feel the school is too strict, you are welcome, I bless you in removing your child from the school, big school', because my number one priority is the safety and well being of the students'."Some parents have complained to local media that the number of visits they can make to their daughters at the school are limited and that mobile phone calls are restricted.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

ITN | March 18, 2007

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