The parents of extremely talented children will appreciate the news: Their little Einsteins will be allowed to start school at the age of five. They will not have to wait until their smart offspring reach six to send them to first grade.
“We decided to amend the law as parents have been wanting to be able to send their kids to school sooner. They were worried their gifted child could otherwise slow down intellectually and would be bored at school,” says Kateřina Böhmová, spokeswoman for the Education Ministry, whose draft amendment was approved by the Senate on Wednesday. If signed by the President, the new bill would come into effect by the end of February.
A five-year-old child of extraordinary talent would thus be allowed to enter first grade next school year. But this will be possible only for children who turn six by the end of June of the following year. The parents also need confirmation from a doctor and the school advisory board that their child has a gift and will do well in school.
Gifted children in a number of European countries are granted the opportunity to enter school at en early age. For example, in the Netherlands, kids can start school at the age of four. The Czech Republic will now be among the countries that pay more attention to the needs of gifted children.
How to teach a child prodigy
It is possible to recognise the talent of a two-year-old child. The child learns fast, can read, write and do math when entering first grade.
“It’s very important that the parents find out soon about their child’s talents. Their children should not think that school will not teach them anything. It could have a negative impact on their further growth,” said Jitka Fořtíková, chairwoman of the Prague-based Centrum nadání, a centre specialised in gifted children.
Czech schools, however, do not know how to teach talented children, who comprise 2-3% of the population.
“It will be a difficult situation for teachers. For example, if they have a five-year-old child in first grade and a seven-year-old sitting next to him. The teachers must learn to treat children individually,” said Dana Hudečková, director of the Prague-based T.G.Masaryka elementary school. The inability of Czech teachers to teach talented students is one of the biggest flows of the local education system. A recent survey by the Czech school inspection found out that teachers often lack the ability to recognise a child’s high talents. And if they do, they do not know how to work with them.
“It’s individualised approach toward children that is important. Teachers often suppress children’s talents with their inadequate approach,” said Education Minister Ondřej Liška.
Money for quality teachers
Only several dozens of elementary and high schools in the Czech Republic offer education programmes for gifted students. Under the Social Democratic government, then Education Minister Eduard Zeman was aiming to abolish multi-year grammar schools mainly aimed at talented students.
The Czech Republic lags behind Great Britain, the Netherlands or even Slovakia, which introduced special classes for gifted students more than 12 years ago. Students in Finland rank high in international comparative knowledge exams also because they study with the help of teaching assistants.
Czech Education Minister Ondřej Liška would like to introduce these methods to the Czech system. He wants to give more money to schools for teachers’ training programmes and for teaching assistants. He also wants to increase a bonus payment for skilled teachers who work with children. “I want to have high-quality elementary schools that will not give talented children an excuse to leave for multi-year grammar schools,” said Liška.
