Taiwan Wins Two Gold and Two Silver Medals at the 2008 International Earth Science Olympiad -Ministry of Education Republic of China (Taiwan)

Taiwan Wins Two Gold and Two Silver Medals at the 2008 International Earth Science Olympiad

Date: 2008-09-19

Taiwan Wins Two Gold and Two Silver Medals at the 2008 International Earth Science Olympiad

Among the six countries and 24 students that participated in the second International Earth Science Olympiad, Taiwan and South Korea were both ranked first with two gold and two silver medals. The Olympiad awarded a total of four gold, eight silver, and 12 bronze medals. Taiwan 's stellar performance surpassed that of the US , Japan , Singapore and the Philippines .

Chang Chun-yan, professor of the Department of Earth Sciences and Graduate School of Science Education, and head of the Science Education Center , National Taiwan Normal University , was in charge of training Huang Kai-chih and three others for the Olympiad. Taiwan's delegation left for the Philippines for the Olympiad on August 31. In addition to the professors from National Taiwan University , National Taiwan Normal University and National Central University who helped choose and train the contestants, Su Te-hsiang, head of the Department of Secondary Education of the Ministry of Education, was a member of the delegation. The Olympiad concluded on September 7 with an awards ceremony. Following the competition, the delegation spent four days and three nights touring the country, before returning to Taiwan on September 11. The four contestants and the medals won:

Name	School	Grade	Medal
Huang Kai-chih	National Taichung First Senior High School	3rd	Gold
Chang Jui-che	National Taichung First Senior High School	2nd	Gold
Li Yan-jung	Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School	3rd	Silver
Kung Te-wei	National Hsin Tien Senior High School	3rd	Silver

Taiwan participated in the first International Earth Science Olympiad hosted by South Korea in 2007 and was ranked first with three gold medals and one silver medal. This year Taiwan also performed very well. As global warming and climate change gather pace, earth science is becoming more important in secondary education across the world, and more countries are expected to take part in the competition in the future. Taiwan is to host the third International Earth Science Olympiad next year. 2009 marks the 10th anniversary of the 921 Earthquake. Hosting an international competition in Taiwan next year is a suitable way to remember those who died and suffered terribly in the tragic event. The Olympiad has been held twice. Taiwan hopes to attract over 20 countries to the competition next year.

The Ministry has drawn up Rules Governing Giving Preferential Treatment to High School Students Performing Well in the International Mathematics and Science Olympiads and International Science and Engineering Fair, stipulating that students winning gold, silver or bronze medals may be admitted to the college departments of their fields of interest without examinations or to any college departments with references. Students winning honorary awards may be admitted to college departments of their fields of interest with references. In addition, students winning gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded NT$ 200,000, 100,000 and 50,000 respectively in cash prizes. Winners of two or more awards of the same or different disciplines will be issued only with the highest amounts of cash prizes they have won.