Syrian Science Olympiad

For many years Syria  has been trying to steer youth towards education and scientific activities. This aspiration was accomplished by way of new techniques,  aiming  at attracting and catching  youth attention. Thus, scientific competitions were  considered to meet that end. The principal objective of those contests was to form a team of young people who exhibit excellence in respect of  scientific field. Those youngsters will play role models for whole Syrian youth,  and have to be engaged in scientific activities that will motivate them to be high achievers in science.

International Science Olympiads have proved to be the best means for that end. They are practical and theoretical scientific contests for high school students. Many countries compete fiercely, in that regard, to achieve global supremacy.

Syrian Science Olympiad is a contest in basic  sciences (Mathematics – Physics – Chemistry –  Informatics ) for pre-university students. The competition will be held through tests on four stages: first schools level, next regions level, then governorate level, and last country level. The objective of those contests is to select scientific team members, to create an iconic creative younger generation able to act and interact with science and data arenas. As well as building highly-qualified science teams in order to participate in national, Arab, regional and, in particular, international Olympiads.

It is worth mentioning that international Olympiads focus their attention on the students’ intelligence and ability to solve complicated and difficult scientific problems based on their basic scholastic education from high school. As far as Syria is concerned, there  is a need to cover additional scientific topics that are not included in the current curriculum. In addition, to go deeply into basic scientific concepts and develop critical thinking and problem solving skills in our team members. Hence, There is a prerequisite to bridge the gap between our students scientific level and that of students from developed countries;  in order to reach the international level required for the international Olympiads.

The Syrian Science Olympiads began in 2006 by means of running competitions nationwide starting in schools, regions and, later on, governorates. Based on those results, teams of 15 contestants are formed for each governorate in order to participate in the finals, where the total number of teams members for each governorate amounts to 215. Later on, the top ten students will be selected for each specialization. Target Groups for that project will be tenth grade high school students, to provide a period of two or more years in order to train and qualify them, since only those 20 years or less are allowed to participate in the international Olympiads.

Syrian Science Olympiad project aims as well at  testing new methods and approaches for teaching and learning, then  adopting what suits the national and local circumstances; upgrading a curriculum and syllabuses that meet the project objectives; training and qualifying teams of teachers and scientific cadres to take part in the project;  using the most updated and advanced high-tech facilities available as well as English language; and promoting a new scientific culture in an attractive and intriguing manner amongst the youth.

The Syrian national team is qualified and trained in order to participate in the International Science Olympiads under the sponsorship of the National Commission for the Syrian Science Olympiad. That is prepared for by means of meetings, workshops, scientific training courses and foreign language courses in cooperation with the scientific contributing partners.

Syrian participation in International Olympiads, was first in 2008 as an observer, at the International Chemistry Olympiad held in Budapest, Hungary. The Syrian delegation consisted of  two supervisors and three students who won in the 2008 National Olympiad. Syrian Scientific Olympiad team participated as well in International Olympiads in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 and received several honorable mentions. It is worth mentioning that Syria won two silver medals and two bronze medals, at Arab Chemistry Olympiad held in the United Arab Emirates in 2010. They also won one bronze medal at the International Informatics Olympiad held in Italy in 2012.

Finally, we hope the best for our Scientific Olympiad teams for this year in  International Olympiads. We have faith in them to bring golden medals back home.

Lama Al-Hassaniah