Dubai: A call to authorities to sponsor and encourage talented children was made by Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Chief of Dubai Police, during the second day of the Child Rights Conference which concluded on Tuesday.
In a presentation titled ‘Caring for Talent', Lt Gen Dahi said gifted children deserve special care because they are a national fortune even more important than oil.
He said the first step would be identifying talented children whether at home, school or at any level, which must be done by families, teachers and all members of the society. However, there are many obstacles.
"When I tried to set up a society to care for talented people, I was faced with many attempts to stop it, and when it was finally licensed, I was surprised to see 20 to 30 new similar centres, which I thought was a positive step, but it turned out to be a repetition and a waste of time and efforts," Lt Gen Dahi said.
"I was once told about a talented student at the Higher Colleges of Technologies, whose teachers thought that he would become an inventor, but he ended up working as a storekeeper in Fujairah, which is a waste of talent," he said, adding that caring for talent is not a slogan, but a coordinated, planned and targeted effort.
The Dubai Police Chief asked all the children present to submit a petition to the leadership to ask for a special authority to take care of the talented.
