SCHOOLS USE FREE APTITUDE TEST
Many schools register for the Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad in order to use the First Round as a free aptitude test. This round does not require the use of computers, but will indicate which students have an aptitude for computer programming, and which should look for employment opportunities elsewhere.
“Last year we had 32 000 entries,” explains Computer Olympiad Manager Peter Waker. “The majority entered only for the First Round in order to use the aptitude test, and that is fine with us.”
FIRST ROUND
The First Round of the Olympiad is offered in two groups: Junior and Senior. For the Junior Division (grades 7 and 8) the main aim is to alert the learners to make the correct subject choices for a possible career in IT. For the Senior Division (grades 10, 11 and12) the aim is to encourage those with aptitude to plan for a tertiary course in IT.
“We would like to encourage young people with the necessary talent to make the right subject choices and consider a career in IT,” adds Waker. “At the same time it helps tertiary institutions if students without the necessary aptitude avoid registering for Computer Science. All too often students discover their lack of aptitude and/or interest when they have already enrolled for an IT course, and when it is too late to change courses.”
FURTHER ROUNDS
The Second Round requires participants to have the use of a computer and be familiar with a computer language – any computer language. The Second Round also takes place at participants own schools or nearby computer centres, but for the Third Round participants are brought together in Cape Town.
Four winners of the Third Round will be selected to represent South Africa at the International Olympiad in Informatics in Egypt in 2008.
R137 000 PRIZE MONEY
In addition to the usual R37 000 prize money, IT billionaire Mark Shuttleworth has made an additional R100 000 prize money available for the Third Round for learners using the computer language Python in the Third Round. Python is an Open Source Language which may be used without payment. Mark Shuttleworth wrote the software that made him a billionaire using such software, and he would like a generation of young South African programmers to have the same opportunities he did.
REGISTER
The First Round of the Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad takes place on Friday 20 April at registered schools. Registration for the Olympiad will be kept open till 20 March. To register go to www.olympiad.org.za or phone 021-448-7864.
The Computer Olympiad is a project of the Computer Society of South Africa, sponsored by Standard Bank and supported by the University of Cape Town, The Shuttleworth Foundation and the CSIR.
Issued by:
Peter Waker
South African Computer Olympiad
Ph: 021-448-7864
Fax: 021-447-8410
e-mail: info@olympiad.org.za
COMPUTER OLYMPIAD FINALISTS
The Top 40 schools and students who participated in the Second Round of the Standard Bank/Computer Society of South Africa Computer Olympiad were announced in Cape Town today, together with the names of the learners who have been invited to take part in the Final Round.
A record number of 33 869 students from 489 schools took part in the First Round of the Computer Olympiad in March. Of these 3 301 students from 214 schools qualified to participate in the Second Round. The top 22 students from the Second Round will participate in the Final Round on 15 and 16 September at the University of Cape Town.
Peter Waker, Manager of the Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad, is delighted with the results. “Many schools are using the First Round of the Computer Olympiad as an aptitude test to see if learners should consider a career in IT. It is encouraging to see the number of First Round entries still climbing every year. It proves that there is an increasing interest in ICT as a career among learners.”
A great attraction for 2007 is the additional R100 000 in prize money made available by the Shuttleworth Foundation for participants using Python. Python is the Open Source programming language used by Mark Shuttleworth to write the computer software that made him a billionaire. Unlike commercial programming languages, Python is available free of charge. (www.python.org)
Donald Cook, Chairman of the Scientific Committee which set the questions, added: “The questions in the Second Round were very challenging, and the average learner did not score very high. To our surprise a small group of learners succeeded in scoring full marks or close to it.”
An unusual aspect of this year’s competition is the domination of one school, Rondebosch Boys’ High. They have no less than four finalists; two of them Saadiq and Haroon Moolla from the same family. Comments Peter Waker, “It was close or a third brother would also have made the finals. Whatever they do at the Moolla family; they are doing something right.”
Another Western Cape School, Brackenfell High, managed to get two learners into the Computer Olympiad Finals: Kosie van der Merwe and Barend van Schalkwyk.
Unusual too this year is the number of female learners that have made it to the Final Round: Maryam Abdullah from Sama High School, Ingrid Salisbury from The Wykeham Collegiate and Rizmari Versfeld from Worcester Gymnasium. “This is great, we have never had more that one girl in the Final Round” comments Donald Cook. Moira de Roche, President of the Computer Society of South Africa, adds: “This is good news. I trust the trend will continue; I am looking forward to the day when more than half the finalists are female.”
An unusually large number of Grade 10 participants have made their way to the Final Round for 2007. Francois Conradie from De Kuilen High; Schalk-Willem Krüger from Ferdinand Postma High; Graham Manuell from De La Salle Holy Cross and Kosie van der Merwe from Brackenfell High.
Asked about future trends, Peter Waker answered: “While it is encouraging that the number of First Round entries is growing, it is also a concern that the number of entries in the Second Round is dropping. This is a result of fewer and fewer schools offering Computer Programming courses – mostly as a result of a chronic shortage of teachers to offer the subject. The eventual result of this will be that students will enter or avoid a tertiary programming course without having any idea what programming is, whether they like it or are suited to it. Some students who should have pursued a career in ICT will not do so; some who should have avoided ICT will waste a year on a course which does not interest them. Some-how an introduction to programming should be included in the Mathematics syllabus or at least in the new subject “Computer Application Technology”.”
Related links:
22 finalists
Top 40 Schools and students
Press Release by:
Peter Waker
South African Computer Olympiad
Ph: 021-448-7864
Fax: 021-447-8410
e-mail: info@olympiad.org.za
YOUNG COMPUTER WHIZZES GO TO CROATIA
A South African Team to take part in the International Olympiad in Croatia has been announced.
The team will compete with young people from 80 other countries for Gold, Silver and Bronze in computer programming.
After winning through a rigorous four-stage selection process which started in April 2006 with
32 000 participants in the First Round of the Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad, four
of the best young programmers have been selected. They are (in alphabetical order):
Charles Bradshaw from Rondebosch Boys’ High, Cape Town (now at the University of Cape Town)
Dirk B Coetzee from Stellenbosch High School (now at the University of Stellenbosch)
Mark Danoher from Pearson High School, Port Elizabeth (currently in Grade 12)
Ralf Kistner from Paul Roos Gymnasium, Stellenbosch (now at the University of Stellenbosch)
The reserve is:
Saadiq Moolla from Rondebosch Boys’ High, Cape Town (currently in Grade 12)
The Standard Bank/CSSA Computer Olympiad which serves as the selection vehicle for the team to take part in the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) invites participation from all high schools in South Africa. The four team members and reserve were part of the close on 32 000 participants in the First Round, 3 873 participants in the Second Round and 22 participants in the Third Round in 2006. The finalists from 2006 received further training during 2007 before the team of four was selected to go to the International Olympiad in Informatics.
The Team Leaders will be Peter Waker, Manager of the Olympiad and Donald Cook, Chairman of the Scientific Committee.
Charles Bradshaw was a learner at Rondebosch Boys’ High School in Cape Town when he won a Bronze medal and R4 000 in prizes in the 2006 Computer Olympiad. He is now a student at the University of Cape Town studying towards a BSc Eng (Mecatronics).
Charles is a regular Olympiad participant, having taken part in:
- The Science Olympiad
- The South African Maths Olympiad
- The International Maths Olympiad
His other interests include the circus. He must be the only student in South Africa who arrives on campus on a unicycle.
This is not the first time Charles travels overseas to represent South Africa. He was also a member of the team which represented S A at the International Maths Olympiad in 2005 and 2006.
Dirk B Coetzee is now a student at the University of Stellenbosch, but he was a learner at Stellenbosch High School when he won a Silver medal and R27 000 in prizes in the 2006 Computer Olympiad.
Dirk is also a veteran from the Maths Olympiad and the International Maths Olympiad. His interests are reading and hockey.
Mark Danoher is a Grade 12 learner at Pearson High School, Port Elizabeth. He won a Bronze medal and R14 000 in prizes at the 2006 Computer Olympiad.
Mark is a regular in Computer Olympiads – ending up in the top 20, and is a member of Pearson’s First Squash Team.
Ralf Kistner was a Grade 12 learner at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch when he entered the Olympiad. He was also the winner of the Standard Bank Trophy for Computer Programming in 2005 and 2006 and the winner of the Gold medal and R41 000 in prizes in the Computer Olympiad in both years.
Ralf won a Silver medal at the 2006 International Olympiad in Informatics in Mexico.
Ralf also took part in the Pan-African Maths Olympiad in 2004 and in the International Maths Olympiad in 2005 and 2006.
Press Release by:
Peter Waker
South African Computer Olympiad
Ph: 021-448-7864
Fax: 021-447-8410
e-mail: info@olympiad.org.za
Photographs of the team and individuals available from info@olympiad.org.za
Team contact details:
