2007 Olympia Competitions Award Ceremony
To promote the development of science education, the international society has been holding the Olympiad Competitions for mathematics and other natural science subjects since 1959. Taiwan has been participating in the Asia-Pacific Mathematics Olympiad Competition since 1991 and the performance of our nation's representatives has been outstanding. The team members are chosen through several stages including the National Preliminary and Finals and the National Representative Training Camp. It is a program that aims to raise the interest of junior high school students in the competitions and in turn uplift the students' interest in sciences. This year (2007), the team from Taiwan has had outstanding performances in the international rankings and the number of medals.
I. International ranking:
This year, representatives from Taiwan competed in the 2007 Asia-Pacific Mathematics, Asia Physics, and International Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Earth Science, and Information Olympiad Competitions. Other than the Asia-Pacific Mathematics and International Information Olympiad Competitions, which does not make international rankings, the teams are ranked within the top 10 for all subjects. Among which, the teams are ranked No. 3 in the International Chemistry Olympia Competition. In addition, representatives from Taiwan also participated in the first International Earth Science Olympiad Competition held in South Korea and came No. 1 in the international ranking.
II. The Number of the Medals:
This year, Taiwan sent 27 representatives to the International Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Earth Science, and Information Olympiad Competition in Vietnam, Iran, Russia, Canada, South Korea, and Croatia, and won 12 gold, 9 silver, and 6 bronze medals. This year, the team's performance has been outstanding; every member of the team won at least one medal. Furthermore, a team of eight students was also sent to China to participate in the Asia Physics Olympiad Competition where they took away three gold, three silver, and two bronze medals. The team of 10 students who participated in the Asia-Pacific Mathematics Olympiad Competition has also had outstanding performance and came home with one gold, two silver, four bronze, and three honor medals. Since 1991 when the nation began to participate in the Asia-Pacific Mathematics Competition and the International Mathematics and Science Competitions, the nation has won an accumulated 133 gold, 198 silver, 149 bronze, and 69 honor medals. This shows that the nation's high school science education is sound.
Other than commending and presenting awards to the students for outstanding performances, the President also expressed special thanks to the advising professors and teachers for their devotion to educating the new generation and instilling a solid foundation for the nation's science education.