OLYMPIADS IN INFORMATICS, 2010, Vol. 4, 104-112
© Institute of Mathematics and Informatics,
ISSN 1822-7732
The New Zealand Experience of Finding Informatics Talent
Margot PHILLIPPS
New Zealand Olympiad in Informatics E-mail: margot.phillipps@gmail.com
Abstract
If Informatics, or indeed Computer Science, doesn't exist as a recognised, valued and suitably assessed senior high school subject, there is a challenge in finding students and training them to Olympiad standard. In New Zealand there are now 4 events which provide students with the opportunity to be selected for the New Zealand Olympiad in Informatics (NZOI) training camp. This has allowed the numbers of students able to be considered to expand from 5 in 2007 to 19 in 2010. In the other scientific disciplines, the olympiads all benefit from the presence of a sanctioned academic subject in high school. With the advent of a new ``Body of Knowledge'' (curriculum) and suitable assessment instruments to attract the more academically oriented students to Computing, it is hoped that the school system will become actively engaged in the NZOI program by encouraging students into contests.
Keywords:
informatics, olympiad, contest, training
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