|Home|

The Number of Classes for Gifted Students Should be Limited
 

Jane Hung

 A small-scale test that was held recently by four counties together to select gifted students appealed to many teachers, students, and parents. Some people think that it is good to set up special classes for gifted students to help them develop their talents; others think that it is not a natural way for those children to learn. As for me, I think that it is necessary to have some special classes for them; however, I feel strange why there are so many gifted students and so many special classes in Taiwan. According to the statistics given by the Ministry of Education, the number of special classes for gifted students doubled within a year in Taichung. In fact, not only Taichung but also Tainan and Nanto had a similar pattern. As a result, the total number of classes for gifted students soared up incredibly. According to research, the average percent of talented students is around three to five percent of the whole student population. The rapidly increased number of so-called “gifted students” is far above the average. How come there are so many gifted students as the birth rate is plunging nowadays? This phenomenon has brought a number of problems. For students, in order to be selected as “gifted” students, many “non-gifted” children have to study hard to prepare for the selection test. They are not born talented but trained to be talented. In addition, many schools set up special classes for gifted students but do not have qualified teachers. They get more resources but do not use them in right ways. Moreover, many people have been misled and thus they distorted the value of education. The Ministry of Education should take these problems into serious consideration and limit the number of classes for gifted students.

      More and more parents expect their children to be selected as gifted students no matter whether they are talented or not. Therefore, children are sent to cram schools where they can be trained to become “gifted” even when they are in the third grade. Isn’t it the time they should play with their friends and laugh loudly? Instead, they have to go to different kinds of cram schools to get different kinds of talent training. They spend a lot of time studying but less time interacting with others and enjoying their childhood. It is really cruel to demand children to get high grades in all kinds of tests and make them become test-taking machines. Can you image how much stress they have to bear and how boring their lives are? Some of them even committed suicide to end their miserable lives. Are they really talented children? I suppose NO! Then why do we need so many special classes and ask those children to compete with each other in order to be chosen as gifted students? Increasing the number of classes for talented students produced an opposite result. It will encourage parents to send their children to this type of classes and thus produce many fake gifted students.

Next, teachers are very important for gifted students. Having experienced and qualified teachers is not easy, particularly those who are able to teach talented students. Gifted students’ mind or behavior is often not the same as ordinary students’. They need teachers who have special training, but as the number of classes for gifted students rises, there are not so many qualified teachers who really know how to teach those students. The traditional ways of teaching, including giving numerous tests and review lessons, can work fine for ordinary students but probably are not useful for gifted students. But do teachers who always use the traditional ways know other ways to teach gifted students? The teaching quality of these classes will be ruined if teachers do not have professional expertise and sufficient experience in teaching gifted students. Also, it is likely that the learning resources which should be employed by talented students are not properly used, which is neither fair nor effective.

Further, it is against the law to hold a joint small-scale test by a group of schools for the selection of gifted students. However, what is the use if the government only made this statement but did not try to prevent it in advance? Getting a high score in such a small-scale selection test has become a goal for parents to set for their children, because they believe that being able to be selected as a gifted student means that this child has won at the beginning. The idea for caring children and developing children’s ability has been distorted in an opposite way. Education is not a one-day job; it is a divine mission and an accumulated process. There must be a proper way to differentiate gifted children and non-gifted ones, and then the government should design a special program for real gifted children. Their job is to provide quality education for all children rather than just catering to the need of parents. We also need clear and accurate ideas to guide the public’s mind and attitude toward education. It is the responsibility that the Ministry of Education should take. They should develop more valid tests to choose real gifted students. Whether one is talented or not should not be determined just by the scores on the paper and neither is he or she able to be trained by cram schools.

Education is one of the most important missions. We can say that children’s success or failure largely depends on education. The whole country’s prosperity lies on children, particularly those who have special talents. Those children cannot be ruined by unfair distribution of resources or distorted values. To limit the number of classes for talented students is the most effective and direct way. It can let parents not make their children as fake talented students. It can release unnecessary pressure given to children. Only if there are not so many chances for children to be selected as gifted students can we really stop this meaningless competition. Please remember that not all children are suitable to get special training. We do not want to see any child who cannot bear the terrible stress end their lives due to a wrong label and cruel competition. We hope that children can learn happily and get what they deserve without unnecessary stress and exploitation.