National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents (NODET; also known by its native acronym SAMPAD) is an Iranian organization founded in 1976 that governs a series of selective schools.[2]
National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents سازمان ملی پرورش استعدادهای درخشان | |
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Location | |
Information | |
Other name | Sampad |
Former name | National Iranian Organization for Gifted and Talented Education (NIOGATE) |
Type | Selective |
Established | 1976 |
Founder | Iraj Broomand |
President | Elham Yavari[1] |
Publication | Exceptional Talents (1992–2007) |
Website | sampad |
History
The organization was founded in the Autumn of 1976 by Iraj Broomand as National Iranian Organization for Gifted and Talented Education (NIOGATE), with two mixed-gender schools in Tehran (Alvand and Bolvar), with a budget of 13 million tomans.[3][4][5] It was to serve as a model of excellence for education in Iran. This innovative organization was short-lived but its influence in the country was significant.[6] Several international and American organizations collaborated with this nascent program,[4] including the University of Southern California and the United Nations Education Commission.[7]
After 1979 Revolution, the organization was continuing its work unofficially, until it was re-established in 1987 as National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents (NODET; Persian: سازمان ملی پرورش استعدادهای درخشان Sāzmān-e Melli-ye Parvaresh-e Este'dādhā-ye Derakhshān, acronym سمپاد SAMPAD).[8]
Schools
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Shahid_Soltani_School.jpg/220px-Shahid_Soltani_School.jpg)
The organization has 99 middle schools and 98 high schools.[8][9]
The schools are informally called Tizhooshan (تیزهوشان, literally "the Gifted").The boys schools in Tehran are often named Allameh Helli (علامه حلی) and the girls schools are often named Farzanegan (فرزانگان).[10]
Entrance
The organization recruits students annually through a two-step set of nationwide exams at both middle school and high school levels.[11] The tests are designed to measure the intelligence, talents and creativity, rather than prior knowledge.[12][13] The rate of acceptance is less than 5% for the thousands of students who apply annually.[8]
The entrance for the educational and administrative staff is also selective.[11] The teachers tend to be the best in the country.[8]
Education system
The educational materials, facilities, instructional methodologies, coursework and curriculum are different in these schools, and intended to develop the students' talents.[11][14]
The courses are college-level in fields such as biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics and English. The schools usually offer only two majors, mathematics-physics and experimental sciences.[8]
Virtually all medals in the Iranian Science Olympiads are won by the NODET students. The students are also top performers in many International Science Olympiad.[8][15]
Alumni
NODET alumni usually pursue higher education up to postgraduate level.[8]
Some of the alumni are world class researchers in STEM fields and medicine.[8] Notable alumni include the mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani,[16] chess grandmaster Elshan Moradi, computer scientist Farinaz Koushanfar, and Unicode expert Roozbeh Pournader.