New center for gifted children to open in Istanbul

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

The building in Tuzla, which used to host vocational training courses, will be used as a new education center.

A new center for unusually intelligent children will be opened in Istanbul’s Tuzla district Anatolian side of Tuzla by the Istanbul Medeniyet University.

The new center will be opened in an area allocated to the university in Tuzla’s Akfırat neighborhood by the local municipality, on the city’s Asian side.

Tuzla Mayor Şadi Yazıcı said they had decided to allocate the building, which was previously used to host the municipality’s children’s club and vocational training courses, for the building.

“This area will turn into an education village, which will have a ‘children’s university.’ Children with high IQ will be accepted to the school after tests and no fees will be demanded.

The rector of Istanbul Medeniyet University, Dr. Hamit Okur, said they had already provided education to 1,200 children between the ages of seven and 12 at a similar “children’s university” built in cooperation with the nearby Üsküdar Municipality.

Okur said children with higher intelligence need special education, suggesting that they could become dragged down if they attend regular schools.

“We will also make hobby gardens for the children and allow them to grow plants [at the new center]. There will be areas where families will be able to stay with their children at certain times too,” the rector also stated.