JEDDAH: The King Abdulaziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity has announced the opening of registration for public and private schools interested in participating in the Mawhiba Classes program. The registration period will continue until Oct. 17. The program aims to create an enriching educational environment specifically designed for exceptionally gifted students, ranging from the fourth grade of primary school to the third year of secondary education. It offers advanced, globally recognized curricula in addition to the high-quality curricula endorsed by the Ministry of Education. These programs, led by highly qualified educators, aim to enhance the capabilities and nurture the talents of exceptional students through partnerships with distinguished schools. They offer advanced curricular content, engaging activities, and also provide professional development programs for educators. Issa Al-Fifi, director of partnership with schools at Mawhiba, said that agreements are established with schools that meet specific criteria. These criteria include student achievements, leadership, management, ethos, teaching quality, classroom management, character development, parent involvement and well-equipped facilities. This collaborative effort aims to expand opportunities for nurturing gifted students and enables public and private schools to actively contribute to this endeavor through various partnership models, including government, supportive, classification and partnership models. Partner schools selected to participate in the Mawhiba Classes program benefit from a suite of services, including training programs, educational consultations and supplementary curricula developed in collaboration with renowned local and international educational experts. Additionally, these schools gain access to a select group of gifted students, which elevates overall academic performance and fosters teacher training and development. Al-Fifi said that the selection of participating schools adheres to international standards and is assessed through various evaluation mechanisms and stages. Trained local experts proficient in employing Mawhiba’s methods and criteria for school assessment carry out this rigorous process to identify schools that fulfill the criteria. The program’s reach has expanded, with 152 schools from 13 different cities in the Kingdom currently participating and a 12 percent increase compared to the previous year. The number of students enrolled in Mawhiba Casses has reached 8,600.