09/12/2023
S'pore has implemented a Gifted Education Programme (GEP) since 1984. It aims to identify & nurture students with outstanding intelligence.
It started with the top 0.25% of each student cohort, & later expanded to include the top 1% of them, so it's an exclusive group of academically able students.
The following article, about a former China child prodigy who's now 28 years old, is a reminder that being identified as "gifted" comes with expectations, from teachers, parents & society:
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/28-old-former-child-prodigy-180312564.html
It's this young man's right to use his prodigious talents in ways he finds meaningful. As a totally different person, I could think of many other ways to achieve happiness & contribute positively to society, if I had his exceptional level of intelligence.
I once spoke to a teacher from a well-known S'porean primary school that consistently has students who are selected for GEP, & she said their giftedness, officially identified, is for them to cherish, develop & use meaningfully.
In a broad sense, we're all "gifted" in our own ways, not necessarily in a statistical sense -- within the top X% of people possessing a certain trait or talent, say -- & just having a life to live is already an invitation to use our gifts in ways that are meaningful.
Whether one chooses to thank one's parents, or the Creator, for such gifts is a personal matter. Learning to use them wisely is another matter.
An adult man once hailed as a child prodigy in China has decided to depend on his parents and live his entire life without a regular job. Rise of the โprodigyโ: Born in 1995, Zhang Xinyang first gained acclaim as the โlittle prodigyโ when he was 2.5 years old for being able to read over 2,00...
