A gift of a chance to identify young talents

A test to identify gifted children aged between eight and 14 has been introduced in Hong Kong.

The test, World Class Arena, measures children's maths and problem-solving skills. It was founded by the British government in 2001, and has been used in the US, Australia and New Zealand. Maths and problem-solving papers assess students' logical thinking, creativity, and application of knowledge.

Nearly 1,000 students from 10 primary schools took a pilot test in Hong Kong last month, with 282 scoring a distinction in the mathematics test, nearly triple the rate of other countries. But 95 scored a distinction in the problem-solving paper, similar to the average international results.

The difference in scores in the two papers was most prominent among Primary Three and Four students and narrowed among those in senior forms.

John Lo Yin-kue, lecturer of Department of Mathematics at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, said the results implied that Primary Four was the key year for children's development in critical thinking skills.

'At the age of nine to 10, students begin to develop their thinking skills, like logical and creative thinking.