A political advisor suggested that China should create special schools to educate gifted children.

Hu Wei, a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and deputy director of the Shanghai branch of China Vocational Education Association, spoke to China.org.cn about his proposal to establish special schools to accommodate children with exceptional talents.

"There are many genius children, prodigies, and geeks, who have strong interests in certain things, fields, and aspects. These gifted children need to be educated in a special way," he said, adding that this group of people could be a key to China winning international competitions in science and technology.

Hu believes every child should be able to enjoy fair and good-quality education, "In the past, China strived to improve the level of special education for children with learning disabilities. On the other side of the spectrum, gifted kids should also receive another kind of special education."

The political advisor appealed to the authorities to pay attention to this issue and shoulder their responsibilities. He suggested that higher education institutions should leave a certain enrollment quota for gifted children. Meanwhile, in his vision, the government should fork fiscal funds over to support the special education, and the genius schools, if established, should be good at discovering and enrolling this kind of children. He added most of the special schools should be private schools.

"There are children with supernormal IQs or exceptional abilities. They are just there, existing objectively, and no one can deny that. If they can be selected out as early as possible and receive additional support to reach their full potential, they will definitely thrive," Hu said.