THE EDITOR – The 14th Asian Science and Maths Olympiad is underway in Banyuwangi, Indonesia. A total of 135 students from various countries such as Indonesia, Tajikistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand have gathered at the El Royale Hotel on Tuesday (12/11/2024) evening to attend the opening ceremony.
President of the Asian Science & Mathematics Olympiad For Primary & Secondary Schools (ASMOPSS) Munasprianto Ramli said that this event is held annually for elementary and junior high school students in the Asian region.
This prestigious event is organized by Yayasan Surya Institute, founded by Prof Yohanes Surya, an Indonesian physicist and advisor to the Indonesian Physics Olympiad Team (TOFI).
“The purpose of this competition is to encourage students to learn science and math from an early age, as well as to enhance the development of international relations between countries in the Asian region in the field of primary school education, especially in science and math,” said Munasprianto.
He also expressed his appreciation to the Banyuwangi Regency Government for being willingly involved in this event. Banyuwangi, he said, was chosen to host the event as it pays high attention to improving the quality of education, especially science and math.
Since last year, he continued, the Banyuwangi Regency Government has been trying to produce thousands of math champions from villages in Banyuwangi by using the “Smart Gasing” method. This method was developed by Prof Yohanes Surya.
“There is one Banyuwangi student who stands out from the Smart Gasing method. Her name is Felicia, still an elementary school student. She has won a number of international competitions. She also joined the national team in this Olympiad,” he said.
As a form of appreciation and respect for Banyuwangi, in addition to Felicia, eight Banyuwangi students were also given the opportunity to compete as a national team at ASMOPPS in this event. Meanwhile, three other Banyuwangi students passed the ASMOPSS selection independently.
“In total, there are 12 participants from Banyuwangi who are members of the national team in this Olympiad. We believe Banyuwangi students together with the national team will be able to compete with participants from other countries,” said Munasprianto.
BANYUWANGI REGENCY GOVERNMENT PROUDLY HOSTS THE EVENT
Meanwhile, Acting Banyuwangi Regent Sugirah expressed her gratitude for the trust given to Banyuwangi to host the 14th ASMOPSS. This international Olympiad will inspire Banyuwangi children to become students who have superior competence.
“They can compete with contingents from other countries. Hopefully they can motivate each other. And the important thing is that they can get to know each other and share what they know,” Sugirah said.
Head of the Education Office Suratno added that the Olympic competition itself will last for six days, 11-16 November and will be held at the El-Royale Banyuwangi Hotel.
“The competition itself uses English as the language of instruction. There is a theory round (individual competition) and an experiment/exploration round (team competition),” he said.
The theory round consists of multiple choice questions, short answer questions, and long answer questions. Each student chooses one of the subjects, namely Science or Maths. While the Team competition consisted of Science Experiments, Maths Exploration Problems, and Science & Maths Combined Investigations.
