{"id":90008,"date":"2014-06-06T02:46:45","date_gmt":"2014-06-06T01:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/?p=90008"},"modified":"2014-06-06T02:46:45","modified_gmt":"2014-06-06T01:46:45","slug":"discovering-young-talents-via-intl-science-olympiads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/?p=90008","title":{"rendered":"Discovering Young Talents Via Int\u2019l Science Olympiads"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students from 17
\ncountries participated at the\u00a05th International Science Olympiad (ISO) competition which took place in Abuja recently.
\nThe science Olympiad competition is designed to promote science education, and open to secondary school students worldwide who are 19 years and below.
\nThe ISO which debuted in Nigeria in 2009 is coordinated by the Nigeria-Turkish Nile University (NTNU) Abuja, in collaboration with the National Mathematical Centre and the Federal Ministry of Education.
\nThe students for the ISO competition are selected after the national science competitions of the participating countries.
\nThe objectives of the competition are inter alia: \u201cTo dare and invigorate gifted science students to improve their talents and to further their career as scientists.
\n\u201cTo give invaluable experience to students who may participate in the International Biology, Chemistry, Computer (Informatics), Physics and Mathematics Olympiads.
\n\u201cTo pick out the top young international science students at the annual ISO; to arouse the active interest of students in the sciences.
\n\u201cTo advance and reward the quest of excellence in scientific attempt; to promote a positive and high profile image of science and scientists.
\n\u201cTo barter ideas and materials about science education among countries; to encourage greater contact and co-operation between secondary school students and educators worldwide.\u2019\u2019
\nThe 17 countries that participated in the competition which took place at the premises of\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0NTNU are: Nigeria, South Africa, Chad, Iraq, Tanzania, Mali, Ghana, Senegal, Afghanistan, Turkey, Cote d\u2019Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Togo, Kyrgyzstan, Uganda, Azerbaijan and Niger.
\nFive countries- Nigeria, South Africa, Azerbaijan, Uganda and Turkey won gold medals, while South Africa topped with five gold medals.
\nSpeaking at the occasion, Prof. Huseyin Sert, the Chairman of the International Science Olympiads and Vice Chancellor, NTNU said the school hosted the international competition to ensure that science based students strived to make a mark in universities.
\nSert said that some past winners of the competition had won scholarships in reputable universities in the world.
\n\u201cI am elated to inform you that the intents of establishing the International Science Olympiad is beginning to yield positive results; some of the past winners of this competition are being sought after by the best universities in the world.
\n\u201cNTNU believes that one of the ways to encourage the study of science is to reward the quest for excellence as exhibited by these students.
\n\u201cThat is why every participants in this ISO competition is already guaranteed a 50 per cent scholarship at NTNU, while those that would be decorated with gold shall enjoy a 100 per cent scholarship at the NTNU.
\n\u201cIn addition, I want to use this opportunity to enjoin our international visitors to educate their friends back home that the security level in Nigeria is being blown out of proportion.
\n\u201cLet them know that Nigeria is safe and the people are very friendly and hospitable,\u201d Sert said.
\nOn his part, the Supervising Minister for Education, Mr Nyeson Wike, said that the objectives of the ISO was in tandem with the Federal Government\u2019s agenda of Nigeria being among the top 20 economies of the world by the year 2020.
\nWike, represented by Mr MacJohn Nwaobiala, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, said that the ministry had put in place a robust curriculum that was targeted at helping the youths develop interest in the study of Science, Mathematics and Technology (STM) \u00a0at all levels,
\nAccording to him, one of such strategies is the restoration of the defunct Technology and Science Education Department, whose mandate is to coordinate all STM related activities in the country.
\n\u201cIn view of the collaboration established between the organisers and my ministry, I wish to state categorically here that future competitions both locally and at the international level, will enjoy good support of both the NTNU and the ministry in terms of providing support for the popularisation of \u00a0sciences across the country,\u201d he said.
\nMr Ugur Hulusi Patli, a teacher at Star College, Durban, South Africa, said the five students of the college deserved the gold medals, going by the level of preparation.
\n\u201cIt is the fruit of hard work; they believed they can do it and they worked hard for it; they studied hard with our teachers especially the ones that are very good in Information Technology.
\n\u201cPreviously, the highest number of gold medals won by one country was three, but today we won five; that is a record.
\n\u201cThe students were selected after the national science Olympiad of our country in which our school got the 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions.
\nOn his part, Joash Nailer, one of the gold medalists from South Africa expressed surprise at the feat, and attributed their success to their teachers.
\n\u201cIt is amazing and I am lost of words; for the past five days, we have been anxious; our teachers contributed immensely to our success; our school also represented South Africa last year.\u201d
\nThe lone Nigerian gold medalist, Akanimoh Udombeh, a student of Nigerian Turkish International College, said he was happy for the award and thanked his teachers and colleagues for their support.
\nAs the world tilts increasingly toward science and information technology, observers say competitions such as ISO are essential in the promotion of science education.
\nThey say that testing students in Biology, Chemistry, Computer (Informatics), Physics and Mathematics is a veritable tool in achieving breakthrough in engineering, the medical sciences, among others.
\nOkoronkwo writes for the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cross<\/a>

Cross section of participants at the Inter-School debate competition for schools held recently in Port Harcourt. Photo: Prince Dele Obinna<\/p><\/div>\n

Chijioke Okoronkwo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students from 17 countries participated at the\u00a05th International Science Olympiad (ISO) competition which took place in Abuja recently. The science Olympiad competition is designed to promote science education, and open to secondary school students worldwide who are 19 years and below. The ISO which debuted in Nigeria in 2009 is coordinated by the Nigeria-Turkish Nile […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-for-the-record"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90008\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetidenewsonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}