Gifted student seeks intellectual challenge

Dubai: Zaina Mohammad, a grade six student, eagerly looks for more challenges as she is always at the top of her class and the youngest to achieve every merit award at her school.

The nine-year-old recently passed the International Computing Driver Licence (ICDL) test, placing her among the youngest in the country to do so.

It is designed to test a person on advanced computer skills. This test is usually taken by senior students, teachers, and educationists in the UAE.

"I am very interested in information technology and spend a lot of time learning from various software. I also like doing research on the Internet and enjoy games and puzzles, as they are challenging," said the confident and articulate student at the Dubai National School.

"Zaina is a very talented and gifted student and most subjects seem "too easy for her," said school principal Mohammad Al Mur'abi,

The school tries to nourish her intellectual gift by giving her extra assignments to meet her standards. She has illustrated projects and presentations and she is very creative in arts, he said.

The girl, who is described as a 'bookworm', was able to complete reading 400 books while only in Grade 4 and in this acad-emic year she has read around 50 books mainly fictional novels.

"We read to her since she was only four months of age and would make sure to daily dedicate hours on reading together as a family activity," said the father.

Fictional stories

"We made reading an enjoyable activity for her. I also plan to write a series of short fictional stories with my daughter," said the Syrian father.

The father hopes that in the near future the UAE would set up a special department or school for gifted children like his daughter.

Zaina reads and researches the Internet to find material that interests her; especially her passion for maths as she plans to become a maths professor in the future.

"Most of the time I am bored in class and find my assignments too easy," said Zaina.

In two years, Zaina plans to do her SATs and TOEFL and is currently learning a third language, Italian.

The father's main advice to parents is to daily dedicate time for their children and to always engage in family activities that combine fun and education simultaneously.