The Saudi pavilion at the 12th Asia Pacific Conference on Giftedness, which was opened at Dubai International Convention Center recently, drew a large number of visitors.
Saudi experts presented a number of papers in the conference, highlighting the Kingdom’s efforts to develop skills of young men and women in the country.
Dr. Haya Al-Awad, undersecretary at the Education Ministry gave a presentation on “Kingdom’s efforts in taking care of gifted students” while Dr. Enas Zaebal of Hail University spoke on “developing skills of children in an innovative way.”
Educationist Yahya Al-Rafie conducted a workshop on “Obstacles facing gifted children in developing their skills.”
Addressing the opening session, Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Malaysian prime minister, said nurturing and educating the gifted and talented would lead to the betterment of humanity.
“Our challenge and responsibility is to provide all facilities and infrastructure to ensure that the gifted and talented among us achieve a higher purpose in life,” she said.
Mansor added: “We live in times when having the right kinds of talents in our institutions has become important toward resolving 21st century problems.”
The conference is attended by over 2,000 delegates from around the world. The five-day event is being hosted by the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Award for Distinguished Academic Performance. It was opened by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, who is deputy ruler of Dubai and UAE finance minister.
Rosmah said it was heartening to note that more countries were now according education for the gifted and talented its due importance.
It was crucial, she said, for family members, educators, researchers, governments and the private sector to come together to discuss and improve how best to identify and nurture distinctive talents.
“Left unattended, we may risk losing the opportunity to develop the potential of these individuals to the fullest,” said Rosmah.
Themed “Nurturing Talent, Growing Potential,” the event aims to achieve four key objectives, namely raising awareness on education for the gifted in the Gulf region and beyond.
“Gifted children are brilliant minds with specific expectations if not challenging demands. Our role as parents, educators, psychologists or administrators is to polish the path to their emancipation, personal growth and social integration,” said UAE Education Minister Humaid Al-Qutami.