Saturday 26 December 2009

Maths Olympiads in China


In China, every year in October, there is a national China Mathematical Competition, from which about 120 students are selected to join the Chinese Mathematical Olympiad (CMO), in January the following year. CMO lasts for five days, and the format and difficulty of the problems mirror those of the IMO - a 2-day competition where participants solve 3 problems each day in 4.5 hours. From CMO, about 20-30 students are selected to form a national training team.

Because of the differences in education and culture, Maths competitions in the Western part of China do not develop as fast as the eastern part. To promote Maths interest in the western China, the China Western Math Olympiad (CWMO) has been conducted since 2001, and the top 2 winners are invited to join the national training team.

From 1986 till a few years ago, the China team did not have any female trainee. To encourage more women to join the Maths competitions, since 2002, the China Girls Math Olympiad (CGMO) has been conducted to select female students gifted in Maths. Again, the top 2 winners are admitted directly into the national training team. The winner of CGMO 2007 joined the national training team in 2008 and she won a Gold medal for China in the 49th International Math Olympiad (IMO) held in 2009!

The China national training team undergoes intensive training and a 2-week Maths camp. After 6-8 tests, plus 2 qualifying examinations, 6 students are finally selected to form the national team, to take part in IMO in July that year. With a very huge pool of participants to select from, dedicated & experienced coachers, perservering & talented trainees and numerous stringent selection rounds, it's no wonder the China team has been doing very well in the IMO. Since 1985, China has taken part in the IMO 24 times (she missed the IMO held in Taiwan in 1998!) and has won the top ranking for countries 15 times!

Besides IMO, Singapore has also sent representatives to take part in the CMO, CWMO and CGMO. A team selected from our own national training team will participate in the CMO to be held in Chongqing, Sichuan, from 20-25 Jan 2010. The team comprises Vincent Tjeng (RI-JC), Ivan Loh (RI-JC), Lee You Jun (RI), Ryan Chan (NUSH), Ang Yan Sheng (NUSH) and I (NUSH). Our trainers cum teachers-in-charge Mr Lu and Mr Teo are also going. This trip is fully sponsored by MOE :-)

1 comment:

Jim said...

Where can I find past winners?