NIAS - EGT (Education for the Gifted and Talented)

The nomination process for NIAS-EGT General Programme is open for children under 9 years of age, from all socio-economic backgrounds. NIAS-EGT has developed a standardized Behavioral Rating Nomination Scale (BRNS), through which a potentially gifted child can be nominated for the programme. A further important component of NIAS-EGT identification protocol is the case profile/portfolio documentation of gifted children. The children nominated by parents or teachers are profiled in detail. Case profiles are qualitative data which represent longitudinal, developmental and psychological accounts of the aptitude, ability, and potential that children exhibit. The programme has worked on the standardization of the Indian norms for Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) and Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM).

The identification of students on the basis of Teacher’s observation and understanding becomes the first step in shortlisting the students. This is preceded by a comprehensive Teacher Training Workshop. However, NIAS-EGT uses portfolio and case study data at the next stage. In principle, NIAS does not administer the Psychometric tests for children below 9 years and for children from marginalized background, for identification.

The identification protocol for rural children is a well-developed indigenous tool, designed for the inclusive education in the diverse socio-cultural setup like India. The NIAS- EGT rural identification model identifies the children through teachers who are the primary contact points through training workshops. The team works with the Education department officials at the taluk and village level to obtain the nominations from the teachers. Children can also be nominated by any community member.

The shortlisted students are profiled through observation and in-depth interviews with teachers, parents and community members. The last step of identification is through a workshop where the children are observed by multiple individuals which provides validation of the observations. The residential workshops allow the team to check the motivation and interest of the child in varied topics. Facilitators act as initial mentors guiding them in their respective area of expertise.