Ivica Zelić, Etay Benovich, Consul Irit Shneor, Menachem Nadler
Ivica Zelić, Etay Benovich, Consul Irit Shneor, Menachem Nadlerno credit

The Israeli Embassy and the Croatian Education Agency co-organized the conference "Challenges in Educating Gifted Children and Youth" in order to break new ground in designing programs for talented young people who lack opportunities to realize their potential.

Educational experts discussed educational frameworks that currently exist internationally, how to identify the particular developmental patterns of gifted young people, and building new guidelines for working with gifted young people.

The Israeli speakers in the conference were Etay Benovich, CEO of the Israel Center for Excellence through Education and principal of the Israel Arts and Science Academy, and Menachem Nadler, Head of the division for Gifted and Outstanding Students at the Ministry of Education.

Benovich said: "The Israel Arts and Science Academy (IASA) is a residential high school for gifted & talented students from all over Israel and from all cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Since its establishment in 1990 as part of the Israel Center for Excellence through Education, we have recognized the critical importance of self-motivation, intellectual curiosity, and independent research."

"Most of the gifted students in primary and middle schools are not being challenged academically apart from the activities provided by the Division for Gifted & Outstanding Students at the Ministry of Education. When gifted students are not stimulated, they lose motivation and often fail to recognize and fulfill their potential. At IASA, we have identified through experience that student-directed research, hands-on investigation, and teaching lateral thinking are key contributors to students' motivation and achievement.

"During the conference, I presented the implementation of these principles both with IASA students as well as through the teacher training programs the Israel Center for Excellence through Education runs in over 200 schools as part of our Excellence 2000 program. This program also runs successfully in Singapore's education system."

Croatian conference organizer Blaženko Boban, the Split-Dalmatia County Prefect, said that the idea for the conference stemmed from both the visit of the Israeli ambassador to Croatia and his own experience visiting Israel.

During his stay in Israel, Boban noticed three pillars on which excellent education is founded.

"These three pillars are love for homeland, young people taking responsibility, and the third, most important, is trust in young people," he said. "Israel has such a high number of Nobel Prize winners precisely because of its approach to gifted children."