| By Gavin Chait,
on 08 January 2007
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 Oprah gets an HIV test (Harpo Productions) I'm pleased that it won't be a burden on the South Africa taxpayer and that this money will come out of the trust that ((Oprah Winfrey)) is setting up but, as a I asked in a previous post, is this really the most effective use of resources? The most expensive independent schools in South Africa offering the best educations, and including room and board, charge about $ 13 800 per student, per year. Winfrey's ((school)) dwarfs that. Her 152 pupils will each cost over $ 60 000 per year to teach, house and feed. This is significantly higher than the $ 7 500 I originally mentioned and I can only hope that further costs don't emerge. How she spends her money is entirely her prerogative. One hopes that the money in the trust won't run out any time soon and strand the very girls who are meant to be the beneficiaries. However, there is much debate in the US regarding her ((generosity)) to ((South Africa)), especially over comments such as, "“The sense that you need to learn just isn’t there. If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod or some sneakers,” she said in Newsweek while speaking of US inner-city schools. “In South Africa, they don’t ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so that they can go to school.” A naive comment, both about the US and about South Africa. 152 girls get to benefit from a "22-acre campus with marble flooring, outdoor and indoor theatres, a beauty salon and a yoga studio." The rest of South Africa can only stand and stare. Once again, I pose the challenge, what should we be doing to promote ((education)) in Africa? This certainly doesn't sound like it.
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