As competitions go online, Singapore students win big at international Olympiads

As international competitions move online in compliance with social distancing measures, Singapore students are flying the Singapore flag high at these virtual competitions. This was shared in a Facebook post by Minister for Education Lawrence Wong yesterday. He wrote that while the format for many international competitions such as Olympiads were altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore students nevertheless continued to excel in the Olympiads for Science, Mathematics and Informatics, and even came in first at the New Zealand Physicists’ Tournament. He also mentioned that the International Olympiad for Informatics was hosted by Singapore and organised by NUS this year, with careful planning and management undertaken by the NUS team to ensure the Olympiad’s safe execution.

Mr Wong noted that Singapore would also host the IOI again in 2021. In his post, he expressed hope that Singapore would be able to welcome participants under more favourable circumstances next year.

According to the Ministry of Education’s press release, this is the first time Singapore has hosted the IOI. President Halimah Yacob and Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat were also invited to address the participants in the IOI’s virtual opening and closing online ceremonies respectively.

The Singapore team comprising of students from Hwa Chong Institution, Raffles Institution and NUS High School of Math and Science bagged four silver and three bronze medals at this year’s IOI. The competition required participants to answer a series of questions related to programming and informatics. Participants from a total of 87 countries and regions participated in the virtual Olympiad, with Singapore ranking 19th in the Olympiad.

Lianhe Zaobao, 15 October 2020