Zinan Hassan awarded ‘Gifted Learner’ prize

Zinan Hassan, a Year 8 student of Albany Junior High School in New Zealand, has been awarded "Gifted Learner" award from the Ministry of Education in New Zealand for his innovative project "development of software for controlling game addition of children." 

The "Gifted Learner" award is one of the prestigious in New Zealand for young children who are identified as gifted or having exceptional abilities to invent innovative things or ideas. 

Zinan was also awarded $2,500 for further development of his idea.

"Though we live in New Zealand, we still work for Bangladesh in the disaster and climate change area," Bapon Fakhruddin, technical director of DRR and climate resilience of Auckland-based organisation Tonkin + Taylor, told The Business Standard. 

"I want our next generation not to forget Bangladesh while they are growing," he added. 

Zinan Hassan was born in Bangladesh and lived in the country for three months before moving to Thailand with his family. 

After living in Thailand for seven years, he moved to New Zealand with his family. 

Zinan won multiple awards and trophies for his academic excellence, including a $40,000 math scholarship at the age of 12 to be part of an NZIIU Student Exchange.