Students need nurturing outside of classrooms

Identification and proper nurturing of gifted and talented children, outside of academics, is needed for fostering innovation and creativity among them, Bangladeshi and Indian educationists and officials said.

They said that every child possesses hidden talents in different fields like performing arts, visual arts, or even sports, other than scholastic performance.      

While speaking at a session in the Asian Summit on Education and Skills (ASES) held in Bengaluru, the capital of the Indian state Karnataka, on September 22-24, experts said it was a challenge for both countries to identify gifted and talented children at schools.

Sixth edition of ASES, a leadership and ministerial event, was organised by India Didactics Association (IDA), with Microsoft as a key partner.

Discussants at the session said that those who are gifted and talented in performing arts or visual arts are often neglected.

“The education system is still exam-centric. Students are hardly appreciated for their performance in any form of art. There is no merit list for them. Education boards should think of identifying talent in these fields,” Additional Chief Secretary of Government of Bihar Vivek Kumar Singh said at session on how should we support gifted and talented students.

Such talent surpasses grades and test performance, so it is the responsibility of teachers and parents to provide the right mechanism to create a nurturing environment, discussants said.

Additional Secretary of Bangladesh’s Ministry of Primary and Mass Education GM Hashibul Alam pointed out that proper screening of these children is a challenge.

He said lack of expert professionals, resources, and curriculum designs, as well as absence of social sensitisation and parental awareness are obstacles to identifying talented and gifted students. “If we fail to identify these children, the whole world will be devoid of geniuses,” he said.

Bangladeshi State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Zakir Hossen, and Principal Secretary of School Education of government of Tamil Nadu, Pradeep Yadav, also took part in the discussion. Vinnie Jauhari, director of education advocacy at Microsoft India, moderated the session on the opening  day of ASES.

Pradeep Yadav emphasised on screening of students who don’t perform very well. “About 30 to 40 percent of students are slow learners. The problem lies in identification; teachers do not have tools to identify these students,” he said.

“Unless you address this issue, these students will be left out,” he pointed out.

During the three-day summit, there were various sessions by leading education pioneers and experts, discussing industry trends and best practices. Around 300 delegates including ministers, policymakers and senior education leaders from 15 countries including Bangladesh joined the programme.

The event was hosted by Department of Education, Government of Karnataka and partnered by Ministry of Human Resource Development, think tank NITI Aayog, and The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of India.