Parliament answers

On checking my mail, after my last post, I discovered an email from the Minister I had written to.

His reply began: "Congratulations on having such an outstanding son..." and then went on to say that he had asked the Ministry of Education to review our son's circumstances and discuss his future with us.

So, another little step forward has been made: let us now see how long it takes the Ministry to respond and what their response will be. If they do make some accommodation for Ainan, it will be the first time that I know of, that they have done so, for any child. There is no tradition of flexibility in educational provision here, so what is being asked is very unusual. I have no idea whether and to what degree, they will make way for Ainan. I rather hope that they do open a path for him, for he is ready to run very far along it, given the chance to do so.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and two months, and his gifted brothers Fintan, three and Tiarnan, twelve months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, baby genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

A letter to Parliament

In Singapore, the nomenclature for politicians is styled after Britain, which used to be its colonial ruler. Thus, the first rung of political power is the Member of Parliament, then above that are Ministers of various ranks, and the Prime Minister, at the top.

Ainan needs an educational provision out of the norm. We don't know quite where to get it but are trying several avenues simultaneously. One avenue is to write to the Ministry of Education to seek permission to homeschool - that is covered below in First Steps to Homeschooling. The other approach is to write to our local Member of Parliament (M.P.).

On the same day that we wrote to the Compulsory Education Unit, we also wrote to our local MP, who happens to be a Government Minister. The Compulsory Education Unit replied within three hours, our MP, though, has yet to reply.

Again, we will see how responsive Singapore is to the particular needs of its citizens. Ainan could do good things for Singapore science, one day. Let us see if Singapore will do anything to help him get there. If not, of course, there is always the whole wide world to go searching for what he needs, to advance. First, however, we will exhaust the local options, for that is the easiest to approach, initially. If those prove satisfactory, then we shall have succeeded on his behalf, but if they don't, then we will be forced to look elsewhere.

Ainan is developing fast, so we need to address his educational future very soon. That is why we are trying several approaches simultaneously, in the hope that at least one will improve his situation.

(If you would like to read more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, seven years and two months and his gifted brothers, Fintan, three, and Tiarnan, twelve months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, baby genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)