RIYADH — Dr. Saud Al-Matahmi, secretary-general of the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), said that more than 150,000 most talented and gifted students have been picked from among more than 550,000 students who were nominated to enter the National Program for Gifted Students Identification in various cities and villages across the Kingdom. Mawhiba launched the megaproject in partnership with the Ministry of Education and the National Center for Assessment. The program involved taking the Mawhiba Multiple Cognitive Aptitude Test conducted annually in English and Arabic for students in grades three, four, six, and nine in more than 100 centers across the Kingdom. The 11th edition of the program was held last year for the first time remotely due to the unprecedented pandemic situation. Al-Matahmi noted that Saudi Arabia is the topper among the Arab countries in this respect as this program is considered the most comprehensive one in discovering and nurturing talented people in the world. The Kingdom has bagged 400 international medals in the fields of science within 10 years, he cited as an example. Al-Matahmi made the remarks during a visit to Okaz on Sunday. "The gifted does not consume technology, but rather creates it," he said while emphasizing that there is a story behind every talent that deserves to be told. Al-Matahmi called on every head of the family to set standards to discover the talent of their children. "During the last 10 years, Mawhiba has achieved 400 medals at an average of 40 medals every year at the international level, while it attracted talented students from 20 countries, with 103 students, who won 79 awards," he pointed out. Al-Matahmi said that Mawhiba has 19 initiatives and classrooms in schools to take care of the talented and take care of them, build a national system for talent and creativity in the Kingdom, and support innovation, in an effort to actively contribute to achieving the goals of the Kingdom's Vision 2030. Al-Matahmi briefed on the senior officials of Okaz the features of Mawhiba's strategic plan titled the "Plan for Giftedness, Creativity, and Support for Innovation", which is divided into three branches: "The Talented: Future leaders;" "An institution looking towards the future," and "A responsible institution."
