We all know that Oprah Winfrey used $40 million of her own money to launch a school for poor South African girls and that on the following day Gordon Brown re-iterated his promise of $15 billion of aid, pledging to make universal primary education a key foreign policy goal (mimimagazine.blogspot.com/2007/01/oprahs-gift-to-south-africas-girls.html). However, it seems as though Oprah's and Gordon's philanthropy is not being well received by everyone. In a press release by ActionAid International, David Archer, Head of Education at ActionAid International said in part:
“Both these interventions should be welcomed for the attention they bring to education, especially to the education of girls, but Oprah and Gordon could be doing so much more ...
Only 150 hand-picked girls from poor households will enroll in Oprah’s boarding school. This number may rise to 400 and there’s no doubt they’ll receive an excellent education and some will emerge as future leaders. But there are over 40 million girls who have never been inside a classroom ... Oprah’s $40 million could have benefited many more girls by challenging discrimination and violence and by improving the quality and accountability of existing schools. Creating a new elite will be less effective than improving the system for all girls."
For the full press release, visit www.actionaid.org/index.asp?page_id=1530
