Eight-year-old Tasos Gerantidis has an IQ score of 148.5. Having not yet studied mathematics, it takes him seconds to complete long calculations in his mind.
Currently attending the local school in his hometown of Pella, in central Macedonia, Tasos has been impressing teachers with his remarkably high scores and mathematical speed.
Faced with the dilemma of how best to facilitate the education of their exceptionally gifted child, his parents have made the difficult decision to move the family to Germany so that Tasos can continue his studies in a program for advanced students.
“Tasos has been interested in mathematics from a very young age,” says his father Andreas Gerantidis. “He likes to do mathematics all day and gets little sleep because he is unable to calm his mind.”
At the recommendation of his teachers, Tasos’ parents took him to see neuro-psychologist Dr Anastasia Christodoulou, who oversaw his intelligence assessments. Stunned by his results, Dr Christodoulou revealed that according to the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V) test, Tasos is very gifted, and gifted children to that degree make up 1% of the world’s population.
According to Andreas, it is unfortunate that Greece is not the right place for gifted children to continue their education, adding Tasos has already started to experience boredom in class, observing his classmates being taught what he already knows.
Dr Christodoulou confirms that one of the most important issues facing Greece is the lack of educational programs available for the many gifted children that have fallen through the ranks
In Germany, Tasos will be enrolled in an advanced student program along with three other gifted children. The school has informed the Gerantidis family that Tasos will be able to finish the fifth and fifth grades by the end of the school year.
As Andreas prepares to leave for Germany after Christmas with Tasos and his 11-year-old daughter, who he notes is also advanced, his wife awaits them, having already made the trip to Germany to arrange a new home and new jobs.
“Tasos is constantly telling us he wants to be a mathematician,” says Andreas. “As parents, we want to do all we can to facilitate the development of his education in the best possible way.”
