(الطالب(ة) المتفوق(ة

[Jerry]

here an article i saw today in al balad newpaper, it took my attention .

2004أرجو من معاليكم السماح لابنتي الطالبة المتفوقة إقبال محمود الاسعد مواليد 1993 بالتقدم الى امتحان علوم الحياة للعام الدراسي-2005
ــ"... بهذه العبارات تقدم والد الطالبة (الاسعد)، بطلب الاسترحام راجيا من وزير التربية والتعليم العالي، منحها قرارا استثنائيا، يسمح لها بموجبه التقدم من امتحانات علوم الحياة، للعام الجاري، باعتبارها متفوقة في الدراسة، وهي لم تتجاوز ربيعها الثاني عشر.
انها قصة الوالد محمود الاسعد الذي يمضي وقته وفي كل عام بملاحقة (طلبات الاسترحام)، في أروقة وزارة التربية للحصول على موافقة رسمية تسمح لإبنيه بالترشح للامتحانات الرسمية، فكما بدأت القصة مع إبنه قاسم المتفوق الذي يتابع دراسته في الجامعة اللبنانية الدولية في البقاع قسم الفيزياء، وهو لم يتجاوز ربيعه الرابع عشر ويتوقع والده ان يحصل على شهادته الجامعية في العام المقبل، كذلك هي حال الشقيقة التي انهت مرحلة الحضانة والروضة خلال عام واحد والمرحلة الابتدائية خلال ثلاث سنوات والمتوسطة خلال سنتين وكذلك المرحلة الثانوية خلال عامين، لتتقدم الى امتحانات علوم الحياة في العام الحالي بعد حصولها على موافقة استثنائية من وزارة التربية كما في كل مرحلة من مراحل التعليم التي تجاوزتها بفعل تفوقها وتميزها وهي في عمر الورود.
جلست (إقبال) الى طاولة الامتحان في ثانوية سعدنايل الرسمية في القاعة رقم (9)، حيث تجاوز معظم اترابها من الطلاب السابعة عشر من العمر، والثقة تملأ قلبها وعقلها، انكبّت على المسابقة الاولى (لغة عربية) في وقت قياسي، ثم تحضّرت لتعالج اسئلة الكيمياء في الحصة الثانية، حيث توقعت انجاز مهمتها خلال وقت قصير خصوصا وانها استوعبت المقررات بسهولة ويسر كما تقول، اضافة الى انها بحالة نفسية جيدة ومتفائلة. تتحدث بثقة العارف المتواضع، وسط ذهول المراقبين من الاساتذة وكذلك الطلبة الذين يخضعون لامتحانات علوم الحياة في المركز عينه.

shouldn't the ministry in such cases help the parents , why should the father ask for طلبات الاسترحام everytime ?
i don't know how good the الجامعة اللبنانية الدولية في البقاع is but why isn't he in an another good university (AUB or USJ or ... ) is there noone who say HEY those are brillant students we should help them , these are "future" of lebanon ...

[Mey]

Did I get this straight ?

She is 12 and wants to submit Bacc II exams ?????!!!!!!!!

And her brother is 14 and is now in university ???!!!!!

[BiZaRo]

yup you got it.

[Jerry]

yes Mehyar you got it right ! that's why i am saying the ministry SHOULD take care of them they are genius
it wont be fair that these 2 brillant students wont get the best chances and the best help , they are "treasure" for lebanon and of course for their family

[Kolar]

amazing kif sarit bel BAC II **** i was 18 years old when i did my BAC II anyway i guess in lebanon they dont really appreciate things and that's why most of teenagers leave the country and travel outside just to have support so it's not new here in Lebanon and if her Dad was someone important or has some relatives working with the government u 'll c things would be better so too bad; anyway it's good we still have geniuses in our country so guys Don't u love Lebanon ?!!

[Alkiklikli]

It is very good you raised this issue. In Lebanon it is very difficult to obtain the right of passing official exams without going through all stages of schooling. This also increases the social injustice as students coming from poor families need to start earning money earlier than others. Contrary to what you think, it is not necessary to be a "genius" to be able to skip a few years (although Bacc II at 12 is really very impressive, but at 15 it is quite doable with a faster track for gifted students). I myself had a student who at age 14 was able to solve geometry problems from Bacc II Math section. (I gave her the problems without telling them their origin and she just found the proofs and she was just a brevet student.)
But schools are extremely reluctant to allow students to skip years or to sit for official exams while not having been through all the classes. I think free candidates should be allowed to sit for the exams, but it should be limited to only once for each exam, to avoid a too large number of students taking the exam at the same time

[PhoenixResurrection]

In the US they have special schools for such gifted students... The governmnet search for them and their parents are not forced to beg the ministery of education to allow their children in High school.

On the other hand, these gifted children are just 12 and 14 years old and they are university students (2ikbal will shortly be)! Hopefully this had not happen at the expense of the childhood innocence & the nonchalance...

[Jerry]

PR , your are absolutely right , a special school in lebanon for kids like 2ikbal and her brother is a must in lebanon , coz i don't think they are the only kids who are so gifted , i'm sure there's more than these two , there are kids where the parents don't notice how clever they are and that this cleverness is on a very high level , unfortunatly even teachers at school don't notice it coz of their "3adam khibra" in this issue coz not only the good notes show that these kids are "special" , they can be " genius" but still having bad notes due to their "3adam ihtimam" ...

With a special school those kids will have a school or a university with other kids who have the same interests and almost same age in order not to "lose" their childhood and innocence and nonchalance .

[ZRSGMS]

I know a 16 year old girl that's going to a pretty prestigious college in the US, and she's in her third year. And other people that graduated high school early and have big jobs and go to big colleges. Of course here they are proteced, but the government in Lebanon should take a little more care of these kinds of people.