We help mathematically, scientifically or linguistically talented children and teenagers reach their potential by improving their education outside school hours and in return they help the societies in which they live through innovative social work that we organise for them.

We implemented this concept and deliver our help through country-specific “programmes”. Our first programme ran in Azerbaijan (city of Sumgayit) from 2008 to 2011. In 2015 we launched a similar, more extensive programme in Ukraine.

Pupils aged 7-17 can be admitted to a programme, if they perform well enough in a test and after a satisfactory interview, both of which we conduct. A “programme” consists of the following elements:-

I)    Optional elements that we offer to our pupils, generally free of charge:

a)    Learning groups in different subjects and at different levels, in which typically 2-6 pupils meet once a week for a very interactive learning session with our pedagogues for about one hour. The pedagogue’s primary role is to stimulate and expand our pupils’ interests, to develop their critical thinking and to hone their ability to express themselves. Because we keep our learning groups small, we can give each pupil individual attention. In the sciences, we use laboratories where appropriate and available.

Although the subjects of our learning groups are mostly among those that are offered by their schools, we do not have a rigid curriculum, as the academic content of each session is in the first instance based on questions that our pupils bring from school and on their interests and weaknesses. In that way, we build on what our pupils learn at school and help them improve their understanding of it, as well as expanding it.

We give our pupils homework that to a significant part involves self-selected reading to develop our pupils’ ability to learn by themselves.

b)    Learning materials (printed and digital resources): we provide these to our pupils to complement their schoolbooks and to help them see different perspectives, thus improving their understanding and knowledge retention.

c)    Quizzes for our pupils and other children and teenagers. In our programme in Azerbaijan we were even fortunate enough to have local representatives of «Что? Где? Когда?» hold quiz sessions for us.

d)    Excursions and an summer camp.

II)    Mandatory social responsibility activities. A condition for the participation on a programme is that our pupils engage in social work in exchange for the benefits that they receive from us. We organise this social work so that it makes effective use of our pupils’ abilities.

In the spirit of the programme’s objectives, we encourage our pupils and their parents to participate actively in shaping “their” programme to meet their needs.