Asia Pacific Gifted Education Conference to Be Held in Jeddah

Saudi Arabia will host the 19th Asia Pacific Conference on Giftedness in Jeddah from February 7th to 11th, 2026, bringing together more than 1,000 experts, policymakers, educators, researchers, and innovators from over 40 countries to discuss the future of gifted education.

Organised by the University of Business and Technology under the theme ‘Fast Forward: Building a Better Future for Gifted Education 2050’, the five-day conference will focus on how education systems can better identify, support, and develop gifted learners in a rapidly changing global landscape.

The programme includes more than 100 keynote sessions, panel discussions, and symposia led by international experts and representatives from major organisations involved in talent development. In addition, more than 350 research papers will be presented, covering topics such as creativity, innovation, giftedness, and emerging approaches to education.

Complementing the main conference, several parallel initiatives will run throughout the event. These include the Generation AI Youth Summit, which targets gifted young people through discussions on artificial intelligence, design thinking, and ethical innovation. The conference will also host the Gifthone, an educational innovation hackathon designed to generate practical solutions for gifted education.

A key outcome of the event will be the launch of the Global Giftedness Index, a new tool intended to assess and compare how different countries develop and sustain giftedness and talent ecosystems.