Dubai: Two researchers from Bahrain and Spain won the ‘Applied Research Global Award of Gifted Education’, and two schools from Saudi Arabia and Australia received the ‘School Global Award Initiative of Gifted Education’ in the first-ever World Giftedness Centre Awards in Dubai on Wednesday.
The winners were unveiled by Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance during a press conference. The debut cycle of the awards was announced in conjunction with the inauguration of the World Giftedness Centre in October 2021 at Expo 2020 Dubai.
On Wednesday, Dr Jamal Al Muhairi, the foundation’s vice chairman of the board of trustees and its secretary-general, said: “These awards aim to promote best practices and exceptional efforts in the field of giftedness and education and contribute to the development of research in this emerging field thus nurturing talented people around the world. The awards targeted PhD holders, researchers, in addition to all school personnel who are involved in initiatives and innovative projects that contribute to the development of giftedness around the world.”
The awards attracted several entries from numerous countries and an international jury composed of assessors evaluated each entry. These awards are part of the foundation’s efforts to support gifted individuals and advance education.
The research award drew nine entries from numerous countries, including Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Malaysia. The school award received a total of 21 entries from Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Germany, Malaysia, Turkey, Korea, Australia, Argentina and Kenya.
Winners
Applied Research Global Award of Gifted Education
• Ahmed Mohammed Al Abbasi from Bahrain for his research on ‘Are gifted students more emotionally intelligent than their non-gifted peers?’
• Alejandro Veas Iniesta from Spain for his research on ‘Differences in personal, familial, social, and school factors between underachieving and non-underachieving gifted secondary students’
School Global Award Initiative of Gifted Education
• Al Anjal National School in Saudi Arabia for the project on ‘MACLE’ (Motivate, Accommodate, Care, Lead and Enrich)
• Sydney Catholic School in Australia for the project titled ‘Newman Selective Gifted Education Programme’
