RIYADH: A total of 186,915 gifted students have been identified in general education schools across Saudi Arabia since the launch of the country’s National Program for Gifted Identification in 2011, the state-run SPA news agency reported on Friday. They were discovered through a strategic partnership between King Abdul Aziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity, also known as Mawhiba, the Ministry of Education, and the Education and the Training Evaluation Authority, represented by the National Center for Assessment, as part of which 518,000 students took Mawhiba tests to gauge their mental abilities. The program aims to use advanced scientific methodology to build a comprehensive database of all gifted individuals in the Kingdom, at all stages of education, and direct them toward programs that best suit their aptitudes and skills. It also aims to sponsor them by providing access to local and international services through Mawhiba, in cooperation with education authorities and other organizations that support the gifted. The support extends beyond general education to include university programs and scholarships for prestigious international educational institutions. Fahad Al-Tamimi, director of Mawhiba’s Recognition and Registration Department, said the program for identifying exceptional mental abilities is the portal for discovering gifted individuals and offering an entry point to the services and programs offered by Mawhiba. By the end of 2022, he said, more than 27,000 gifted students had been sponsored through a Mawhiba Classes program, and more than 47,000 had participated in the Mawhiba Academic Enrichment program, which covers 34 diverse subjects in a variety of scientific fields. In addition, more than 1,300 Mawhiba students were admitted to leading international universities through the Mawhiba Excellence Program, Al-Tamimi added. Students identified by the National Program for Gifted Identification have participated in a range of international scientific experiences, received training and tuition as part of Mawhiba programs, and have taken part in international and regional competitions that have resulted in more than 500 successes. They have received 106 international awards from the International Science and Engineering Fair competition, which is described as the most important international scientific competition for students.