How are the talented selected?
The Ministry of Education announced that, as part of a developmental initiative, the “Gifted Schools” project has been launched for the 2026–2027 academic year. This project, overseen by the Giftedness Office under the Minister’s Office, aims to build an integrated national system for identifying, nurturing, and developing the abilities of gifted students through advanced educational policies and effective local and international partnerships. This effort contributes to preparing a creative human capital capable of leading development and innovation pathways and achieving the targets of Kuwait Vision 2035.
The Ministry also clarified that student nominations for admission to the Gifted Schools are conducted electronically via the “Mawhoob” platform, operated by the Ministry of Education, in accordance with a set of criteria. These include: the student must be a Kuwaiti national, enrolled in one of Kuwait’s general education schools, achieve a high academic level in core subjects during the first semester of the 2025–2026 academic year, and take giftedness identification tests with parental consent.
The definition of a gifted student is described as: “Students who possess exceptional aptitudes, abilities, or performance that distinguishes them from their peers in one or more areas valued by society, particularly in intellectual excellence, creative thinking, academic achievement, and special skills and abilities. These students require specialized educational support that is not fully available to them within standard curricula.”
Scientifically, it is well known that the most common tests for identifying gifted students in general education include special aptitude tests, which cover key aspects of thinking: verbal ability, numerical ability, spatial ability, and inductive reasoning. Can the Ministry of Education administer such special aptitude tests to select gifted students? Are there teachers who are proficient in interacting with gifted students, developing their skills, and enhancing their abilities?
Furthermore, one of the Ministry’s criteria for selecting gifted students is achieving a high academic level in core subjects. However, these subjects primarily rely on memorization and often measure only the ability to recall and retrieve information. Additionally, performance in these subjects is subject to teacher assessment, which varies from one teacher to another.
There are numerous methods and tools for identifying gifted students, including a comprehensive set of scientific and educational measures and tests to ensure accurate selection. Did the Ministry of Education utilize these measures and tests to select gifted learners? We call on the Ministry of Education to disclose the aspects related to admission to the Gifted Schools and to announce the international standards it has adopted to differentiate among learners in order to identify the gifted.
Dr. Bahija Bahbahani
