President Milanović Receives Center for Gifted Children Delegation from Rijeka on International Day of Gifted Pupils

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović has received today at the Office of the President a delegation of the Center for Gifted Children from Rijeka, gifted children and their parents on the occasion of International Day of Gifted Pupils.

The Center for Gifted Children from Rijeka is an association of citizens whose members are mostly educators, primary school teachers, school counsellors, psychologists, university professors, early childhood and preschool education student volunteers, teacher education and psychology student volunteers. The Center was established in 1997 with the goal of promoting giftedness and raising awareness of the fact that gifted people are extremely important for the development of society. The main activities of the Center focus on organizing early childhood education workshops and counselling for parents. On the occasion of International Day of Gifted Pupils and in cooperation with the City of Rijeka, the Society of Parents of Gifted Children “Lodur” and the Department of Education and Schooling of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, this year the Center is organizing “Gifted Awareness Week” at which workshops for children and youth will be held, along with lectures for teachers, expert associates and parents, it was said at the meeting.

Representatives of the Center also pointed out to President Milanović the problems they face, notably those related to the system of educating the gifted in Croatia. As they underscored at the meeting, in Croatia there is no system in place for identifying gifted children in preschools and schools, nor integral systematic care for gifted children at the national level. Parents of gifted children also told President Milanović about the experiences and problems they face in the education system in this regard. They expressed the hope that the new Education Act, which is being drafted, will clearly prescribe working with gifted children and that regulations detailing this will be introduced as well.

The delegation of the Center for Gifted Children from Rijeka was composed of Center President (Faculty of Teacher Education, University of Rijeka) Dr. Jasna Arrigoni, Deputy Center President (Faculty of Educational Sciences, Juraj Dobrila University of Pula) Dr. Danijela Blanuša-Trošelj, teacher, Center Secretary and head of children’s workshops “Mali radoznalci” (Primary School “Vladimir Gortan,” Rijeka) Antonia Ćurić and Steering Committee member (Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, Department of Psychology) Dr. Barbara Rončević Zubković, psychologist and Steering Committee member (Preschool “More,” Rijeka) Ivana Sošić Antunović, President of the Society of Parents of Gifted Children “Lodur,” Rijeka Sanjin Lukarić, parents of gifted pupils Ines Tadić and Mario Tadić, and gifted pupils; 3^rd grade pupil of the Primary School “Trsat,” Rijeka Filip Antunović, 8^th grade pupil of the Primary School “Vladimir Gortan,” Rijeka Noel Trošelj and 4^th grade pupil of the Gymnasium “Andrija Mohorovičić,” Rijeka Petar Dušević.

Adviser to the President of the Republic for Education Jadranka Žarković was alongside President Milanović at the meeting.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Marko Beljan