*As a former dorm matron at Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy for Girls prepares for her April 21st trial on child abuse charges, the expulsion of a 13-year-old girl has prompted experts to question the school's ability to handle psychological issues surrounding children who come from severely disadvantaged backgrounds.

      According to South African Web site The Star, the unnamed student was hospitalized after suffering a "mental meltdown" in her first term at the school and was believed to have been expelled this week. Yet, no official reasons for her expulsion have been provided.

       But experts are reportedly warning that "if the school doesn't improve its support structures to help the girls, taking into account that their disadvantaged backgrounds were precisely the reason why they were chosen to attend the prestigious school, they could find themselves forced to expel more pupils," the Web site reported.

       The student was due to leave the hospital Monday following an eight-week stay, during which she received psychiatric treatment. She was expected to return to her home in an impoverished rural area.      

       Identified by her former school as a top achiever, she was sent to Tara hospital by staff after she began "self-harming" and became increasingly disruptive. At the hospital she was also diagnosed as epileptic, a condition which the academy had failed to pick up, the Web site reported.        

       A child psychologist, who asked not to be named, told the Saturday Star it was not surprising that the school would include pupils with psychological issues. He hoped the girl would receive counseling when she returned home.      

       "It would be very traumatic, actually quite devastating, for any child to be given what she believes to be the chance at a dream life and then to lose it - whatever the reasons," he said. "While I don't know the exact details of what happened her, I think it's reasonable to say this child would have been in a better position if she had not been chosen for the school in the first place."      

       Meanwhile, the trial of former dorm matron Tiny Virginia Makopo begins Monday. She stands accused of 13 charges of indecent assault, assault and criminal injury involving schoolgirls between the ages of 13 and 15.