Mensa Grammar School Visit in September 2019

Christine Kwok (British Mensa)

On September 23, we paid a visit to the Czech Republic Mensa Grammar School (Mensa gymnázium), received by the Deputy Headmistress, Marcela Fatrová, and Lead of English teaching, Petr Kubačák, who has been dedicating to the school over 15 years.


As you can imagine, it hasn’t been an easy journey to run a school for gifted students, especially when it was first founded 26 years ago in 1993, with a dream and mission to provide a cradle for the gifted ones to grow and maximise their potentials.

There wasn’t any bespoke theory or methodology on gifted education. Imagine how much time and effort the school has put in building a tailor-made programme for the special needs through years of experiences and devotion, not to mention the effort in getting the Education Bureau to buy in and blending into the education system.

We’re thankful to have participated in some classes including English, Biology and PE. A pleasure surprise was that the format of the classes for senior students is similar to what we have in university. We joint in small group discussion with a given topic and we’re impressed to see the confidence and critical minds these young adults carry.

Speaking as a gifted child myself, I was enrolled to a gifted student programme organised by the government when I was 6 and I quitted 10 years later as I didn’t see it’s going anywhere without a solid and sound methodology. I’ve come to realise an effective education programme is not only about pursuing knowledge but the psychological needs of different type of children and how you motivate them to be their best.

I understand that both HK and UK have been exploring gifted education for years and I reckon it’s time to come up with an effective approach that best suits the need. I am no expert in the field (for the fact that I’ve been working in financial sector for 9 years), so would be great to get your view on the subject matter.

We believe every single youngster is entrusted with so much talents awaiting to be unlashed given a right platform for them to shine. Thanks again for the warm welcome from Mensa gymnázium, it’s a valuable experience for us.

Christine Kwok

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