‘Participation in olympiads promotes scientific thinking from school level’
| Date :17-Sep-2019 |
By Ajay Mardikar :
Indian students have secured four golds, seven silvers and one bronze in the Olympiad in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology held recently. The students have secured two golds each in Physics and Chemistry. They bagged three silver medals in Physics, one in Chemistry and three in Biology. The Olympiads for junior college students were held in different parts of the country. Although the achievements are below the students from China and Chinese Taipei, they have been performing well in these Olympiads for the last several years. The Olympiads in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Astronomy are held for junior college students, while in General Science for students from Standard VIII to X every year, in which students from about 80 countries participate.
The medals are awarded to the students who achieve a certain degree of level during the Olympiad. This is an activity to promote scientific thinking among the students from school level. Dr Vijay Soman, Mentor in Physics and Dr Hemant Pande, mentor in Chemistry informed The Hitavada that about 60,000 students appear for the National Standard Examination every year. The tests are based on CBSE syllabus. The enrolment is carried out through the schools only.
This is the first step and the students are selected, tested and groomed by Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education after the preliminary scrutiny. From among these students, a smaller number of between 300 and 500 students are selected for Indian National Olympiad. The tests are conducted at 18 centres in India in theory objective and long questions. From among them 35 to 50 students are selected in each subject for the International Olympiad and a Pre-departure camp is conducted for them. The students are groomed in theory and practical experiments thoroughly by the mentors, before they actually participate in the international meet.
This is the only method to go to the International Olympiad, and the participating students are required to pay only Rs 150 as a fees for registration at the initial level. All other expenses are borne by Homi Bhabha Centre after that. Dr Soman and Dr Pande stated that a large number of students from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana participate in the National Olympiad. From Nagpur, about 300 students from 20 schools participate. Dr Soman has been mentor in Physics for more than 12 years, while Dr Pande has acted as mentor in Chemistry for about 20 years. Most of these students who reach International level get admission easily in IITs. Unfortunately, there is no specific track of their achievements in academics or research after degree level, is available. Dr Soman is a teacher in Physics with Mathuradas Mohota Science College and stated that his college management has extended full support for his activity and has expressed gratitude towards them. Dr Pande is a retired teacher in Chemistry from Hislop College and has been a popular teacher in his subject.