The traditional National Talent Day was held in Budapest on the 28 March. Young talents, teachers and talent support activists were awarded at the event.
Since 2009, the National Talent Day has been celebrated on the birthday of the composer Béla Bartók. It is now tradition that special awards are given to talented youngsters, their teachers and professionals of the talent support movement. On this occasion the new Ambassadors of Hungarian Talent are handed their accreditation letters.
Organized by MATEHETSZ (Association of Hungarian Talent Support Organizations), the event began with the greetings of the main Patron, Anita Herczegh, wife of the President of Hungary, who highlighted the importance of talent support. She stressed that – thanks to the work of MATEHETSZ and other organizations – the matter of talented young people has become an institutional system, a well-established methodology enjoying support from the government.
In her speech, Katalin Novák, state secretary of the Ministry of Human Resources, mentioned that the matter of talent support was a task that spans over governments in that it is much more than the issue of individuals but rather an asset for society, a national resource to be exploited for the benefit of all. She also stressed that the government has to cooperate with NGO’s using national resources and the support of the European Union. The matter of talent support is considered to be a priority issue for the government, as declared in the long term National Talent Programme. This year the National Talent Fund will support the issue of talent support with the amount of HUF 2.8 billion (approx. EUR 9 million). She added that in the next period an annual HUF 1 billion will help financing the area.
Nineteen young talents were selected from 202 applicants for the “Discovered Talents” award. Three of them received the grand prize; others received special prizes. The awarded youngsters will receive a scholarship for their further development.
In his speech professor Péter Csermely, President of the National Talent Support Council and the European Council for High Ability, announced that the setting up of a European network had begun based on the Hungarian example. Some 20 European Talent Centres will join the network in the near future. (For more information, go to the website of the European Talent Centre Budapest: http://www.talentcentrebudapest.eu/)
The National Talent Support Council appoints the Ambassadors of Hungarian Talent. The title is given to outstanding personalities who serve as role models, people responsible for society, active in creating communities, who understand the importance of developing talents and are ready to use their capacities and goodwill to popularize the role model of the responsible, talented person.
A new collection of online games for developing cognitive capabilities of kids aged 10–14 was also introduced. The games help to acquire new curricular knowledge in a playful way. The new online tool can be used both at school with a teacher or at home as a leisure time activity.
