JEDDAH, 7 July 2004 — The Gifted Girls Patronage Center opened a month ago and is still being refurbished. But its program, which aims to provide guidance and training to gifted students, got under way a year ago, working with elementary and secondary students after school hours and during the summer.
At its new site, the “Summer Enrichment Gathering” is more focused and organized, the team behind it say.
Fifty girls between 11 and 13 with an IQ over 120 who scored 95 percent and above in their exams and received high grades in aptitude tests, were picked for this summer’s activities.
During the month-long program, which goes on till the end of next week, they had lectures, workshops and group projects to develop their intellectual skills — analytic, critical and creative thinking — as well as communication skills and self-confidence.
Similar centers have been available for boys throughout the Kingdom for a few years.
“The center provides programs that develop the children’s social, behavioral, psychological and educational skills while also building on the curriculum offered in their school,” said Suzan Banaja, the director of the Jeddah center. The strategy for the centers is devised by the Education Department but the content and methods are left to each center.
There are separate programs for high-school students in cooperation with colleges and some private institutes. Work is also under way on a program for preschool students. This year’s theme is “Safety is Trust and Security,” and the Jeddah center chose the slogan “Working together for a safe society.”
It is focusing on teaching students how to treat others, work as a team and develop personal goals that serve the community.
It has not all been plain sailing. “Some parents are not committed to bringing their daughters to the center every day and on time, but perhaps because this is our first year. We need to raise the parents’ awareness,” Banaja said.
The center will also provide training programs for teachers in how to deal with gifted students. “The students here have reacted favorably to the program, but we need the whole society to support them. One of the problems is that these girls don’t have a chance to apply and use what they learn,” she said.
The girls were enthusiastic about the program. “We learned so much here, I wish they applied the program in our school,” said 11-year-old Mariam Al-Etaibi.
Rozana Al-Awadi enjoyed the freedom to be creative. “With each idea we have, we look at the positives and negatives and develop the idea further,” said Reema Al-Etaibi.
“There are no wrong answers or bad ideas,” added Nora Al-Yazidi.
