Train the talented separately

We are currently experiencing an increase in the number of schools that offer tailored services for mentally and physically challenged children.

Such educational institutions employ teachers who have special knowledge and skills that enable them to deal with such children. As a result of the customised educational programmes to match with the pupils' individual needs, they do well in their studies

However, there is another segment of children whose needs are not met yet and their only fault is that they were born with exceptionally high IQs. This segment of pupils was never considered and the only way it was handled was by giving them outstanding results in their studies and extra random work to do such as reading books or doing some projects.

Children with high IQs represent a new niche market for education providers. Thus, they have to utilise this opportunity and establish educational institutions tailored to their curriculums. Actually, they should go as far as appointing a separate programme and staff for individual pupils in order to serve their needs better.

Beneficial

It is beneficial to note that their curriculums, unlike others, should not necessarily include all subjects that a student is required to learn as their extraordinary talent might be in one field or more. Accordingly, making outstanding achievements in a specific subject such as mathematics, for instance, counts more than having medium level knowledge in all of the subjects and no achievements.

On the contrary, such children could experience depression and as a result become introverts if their virtue of extraordinary talent is not discovered. In severe cases people could assume that such children are slow learners as they would refuse to interact and to show any interest in education. Hence, it the responsibility of parents to observe their children closely to uncover their hidden talents and then to communicate this discovery to professionals in the education field in order to fulfil their children's needs.

It is beneficial to note that creating educational institutions for talented children would have a lot of benefits to the society. First of all, the country could develop a think-tank composed of talented children who can be groomed to be scientists as a result of the tailored education they received.

Another major advantage of providing such a service for this segment of pupils is that the UAE would be the first destination for educational tourism for this type of education seekers. That is because no country has attempted to establish such a service worldwide on a professional and wide scope.

Hanan Esmail Al Sahlawi is an Emirati columnist based in Abu Dhabi.