Parallel Session Proceedings »
File 1 4.0MB |
3.4.5 From Invisible to Protagonist: Positive Initiatives that Impact the Lives of Gifted Kids in Brazil
How far can a 13-year-old black boy, the son of an elderly caregiver and of an electrical technician, from the outskirts of São Paulo, go?
The World Health Organization indicates, in a conservative estimation, that the gifted constitutes 5% of the Brazilian population. However, until 2016, the Brazilian school census calculated that only 15,900 gifted kids (0,15%) were attending school. Therefore, the most effective option for gifted kids is to seek help from private institutions and NGOs.
Faced with this reality, the Ismart Institute (Instituto Social para Motivar e Reconhecer Talentos) is a Brazilian non-profit organization that provides access to a quality education and opportunities for high potential low-income students. To reach the full professional potential of these students, its programs are based on excellence, ethics, and productive creativity. Currently, Ismart supports 2.000 fellows among elementary school, online program, and university students.
The impact of Ismart grows with time. With an annual selection process in six cities in Brazil, the number of applicants for its programs has already reached the mark of 21 thousand a year. For the past 20 years, Ismart has taken actions that transformed the reality of the students. These endeavors are possible for the long-time partnership with schools, companies and education secretaries, and the work of volunteers that help in many different fronts.
On top of the financial and academic support, the Ismart fellows attend programs that develop competencies for the 21st century, such as autonomy, communication, and critical thinking. The intention is to broaden the perspectives of these students to access what is best in terms of education, culture and the job market and, therefore, to change their reality.
Currently, 83% of Ismart fellows complete high school against 58% of the Brazilian population (until 19-year-old). 90% of them are accepted in top-tier colleges and universities against 23.8% of the Brazilian population at the same age. The results show that when talent meets the opportunity the extraordinary happens.
That young black boy, living on the outskirts of São Paulo mentioned at the beginning is Gustavo Torres. Today, he is 21 years old and is an engineering student at Stanford University in the United States. His path is one of the several remarkable examples of Ismart’s impacts in the last 20 years.