HUNGARIAN GENIUS PROGRAMME
„Talent can be hidden in each one of us!”
Hungarian talent support organizations aim at motivating young Hungarians to realize their full potential, and, by this, make them happier and more responsible members of society.
Hungarian Talent Support Council
The Hungarian Talent Support Council (HTSC) was founded in 2006 as a joint effort of NGOs, aiming to maintain the heritage of state-of-the-art talent support programmes rooting deep in Hungarian educational culture. To date, there are 27 member organizations of HTSC, a non-profit association itself, whose mission is to promote various forms of talent support, ranging from identification of gifted children, through a variety of professional talent support programmes, and to the acknowledgement of high achievers as well as their mentors. Next to this, HTSC wishes to act as a coordinating body in order to promote the organization and social responsibility of talented people. HTSC provides a platform for Hungarian NGOs dealing with talent support in or outside Hungary, to coordinate and represent their views. To meet this aim, it collects international best practices of talent support, organizes professional workshops and conferences. It also aims at promoting new financial grant schemes in order to provide due resources for the development of this sector.
The Hungarian National Talent Support Council is a corporate member of the European Council for High Ability (ECHA).
Hungarian Genius Integrated Talent Support Programme
As a result of the joint efforts of HTSC member organisations, in 2008, a 20-year long National Talent Programme and its sponsoring National Talent Fund (with a yearly funding of 5 million EUR) was brought into existence by a decree of the Hungarian Parliament. Next to these two national endeavours, a three-year European Union funded project, the Hungarian Genius Integrated Talent Support Programme started operation in 2009. The Hungarian Genius Programme fills a long-ago identified gap in Hungarian talent support. It aims at developing a nationwide network of talent support organisations, which will help create or strengthen bonds between the educational and talent support processes covered in schools and such opportunities provided by NGOs or even private persons. The Hungarian Genius Programme also offers professional training courses to those working at various talent support organisations, aiming to systematically develop the professional and methodological skills of mentors dealing with talented youth. By these activities, the Hungarian Genius Programme will develop a sector-independent, all-embracing national Genius Network of Hungarian talent support schemes in and outside Hungary. The core elements of this network are the so-called TalentPoints, institutions that have gone through a meticulous professional accreditation system developed in the framework of the Hungarian Genius Programme. To date, there are 200 registered TalentPoints taking part in this project. As a result of its professional network building and training activities, the Hungarian Genius Network will draw up the Talent Map of Hungary, will boost the number of Hungarian TalentPoints in and outside Hungary, with special attention to talented young people among Hungarian minorities in neighbouring countries. To this aim, the programme will call to existence regional Talent Support Councils, public bodies guarding professional standards and coordinating activities in their respective regions. The programme will organise and promote the concept of Talent Days, festive events focusing public attention on gifted people and talent support. It will develop financial programmes to support various forms of education of high achievers, among others, it aims at creating a Talent Credit Scheme to provide resources to those gifted, but underpriviledged. The Hungarian Genius Integrated Talent Support Programme, an EU-funded project, is paired up with a number of national programmes. Through the National Talent Fund, registered TalentPoints may apply to grants to fund their professional activities.
We hope that by all these efforts Hungary will develop its century-long talent support traditions (giving several Nobel Laureates, world-known musicians and sportsman) further, and will become a talent-friendly society by 2020.
Contact: Central TalentPoint Hungary, H-1507 Budapest, P.O.Box 1, Hungary
Phone: +36-1-787-0596; E-mail: info@tehetsegpont.hu