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the lead in implementing advanced gifted children, especially in rural
learning pathways, subject accelera- and educationally underserved areas,
tion and enrichment programmes, remain unidentified because of insuf-
parents need to provide crucial, emo- ficient screening processes and lim-
tional support and guidance even as ited teacher capability in recognising
teachers are trained to recognise and giftedness, and curriculum rigidity.
mentor diverse manifestations of tal- Gifted children are denied specialised
ent. Simultaneously, government and education resources, enrichment pro-
industry need to provide internship, grams and advanced learning materi-
research and innovation labs and op- als. Moreover, because they are ahead
portunities to enable gifted children to of the pack, gifted children routinely
realise maximum potential. experience problems such as isolation,
F OR INDIA’S POLICY formu- seldom offered social-emotional sup-
anxiety, bullying and ridicule and are
lators and educationists, it
port and counseling. Yet India’s gifted
is important to note that
a large number of global children represent a vast untapped re-
source pool for innovation, creativity,
game changers — scientists, entrepre- Shishodia: untapped resource pool and leadership. By identifying them
neurs, and inventors — were identified early, providing them with differen-
and enabled from childhood. Mark uals normatively comprise 2-5 percent tiated and enriched curriculums and
Zuckerberg, the founder/inventor of of the total population of every coun- ensuring their emotional and social
Facebook was building messaging sys- try. By that yardstick, India’s gifted stability, gifted children can contrib-
tems at age 12. Similarly, a large and child cohort aggregates 10-25 million ute hugely towards inventions and
growing number of school children are individuals. According to Ei estimates, innovations that will revolutionise
experimenting with AI and robotics, the number of gifted people in India is India’s laggard economy,” says Ma-
and need to be transformed into game- 24 million of whom 4.8 million are of hika Shishodia, Head of Education,
changer inventors and innovators. school-going age. Lodha Foundation, which in 2023
The outcome of belated official Proportionate to the number, In- introduced the Lodha Genius Pro-
awareness of the potential of gifted dia’s initiatives to nurture, enable gramme for nurturing gifted children.
children to transform into industry and mentor its brightest and best For policy formulators, education-
and societal game changers — Micro- minds are lukewarm. Unless a con- ists, teachers (and parents) accus-
soft and Apple promoter-founders Bill certed national initiative to identify tomed to equating board exams suc-
Gates and Steve Jobs were identified and specially educate this important cess with giftedness, it’s important
as gifted in their early years — is that national resource is made, millions of to grasp that giftedness manifests in
the number of children identified as gifted children and youth are likely to varying forms ranging from leadership
gifted is growing exponentially. Over descend into mediocrity and fade un- and creativity to abstract thinking and
the past 14 years since Ei introduced sung without realising their potential. heightened emotional intelligence.
its ASSET Talent Search, 1.8 lakh chil- “India’s gifted children are con- In an influential research paper
dren have been certified as gifted by fronted with a range of challenges that titled ‘Rethinking Giftedness and
the company. MENSA, the world’s hinders their development. Among Gifted Education: A Proposed Direc-
most prestigious high-IQ society, them: lack of recognition — most tion Forward,’ published in Gifted
estimates the number of gifted chil- Child Quarterly (2011), US-based
dren in India at a modest 6 million. Unless a concerted national researchers Rena F. Subotnik, Paula
Yet, unlike developed countries such Olszewski-Kubilius and Frank C. Wor-
as the US, UK and Germany which initiative to identify, nurture rell defined giftedness as a dynamic
have established robust systems and and specially educate this and developmental process. “Gifted-
programmes to identify and nurture important national resource ness can be viewed as developmen-
gifted children, in India initiatives tal in that in the beginning stages,
to segregate bright minds in an edu- is made, millions of gifted potential is the key variable; in later
cation system designed for average children and youth are likely stages, achievement is the measure of
learners, are of recent origin. giftedness; and in fully developed tal-
According to studies by the Na- to descend into mediocrity ents, eminence is the basis on which
tional Association for Gifted Children and fade unsung without this label is granted. Psychosocial
(USA) and Dr. Joseph Renzulli (Uni- variables play an essential role in the
versity of Connecticut), gifted individ- realising their potential manifestation of giftedness at every

MARCH 2025 EDUCATIONWORLD 39