An Official IOI Syllabus                   Merida, Yuc., Mexico, 14 Aug. 2006
== ======== === ========

At the IOI-sponsored workshop [1] last January in Dagstuhl, Germany,
Krzysztof Diks (Poland) took the initiative to create an IOI syllabus
(see the workshop wiki [2]).  Following up on that work, Krzysztof Diks,
Gyula Horvath (Hungary), Gordon Cormack (Canada), and Tom Verhoeff
(Netherlands) wrote an article titled "A proposal for an IOI syllabus".

The article provides motivation for having an official IOI Syllabus, it
explains the design ideas behind the proposed syllabus, and presents the
actual proposed IOI syllabus.  Reprints of the article are distributed
at IOI 2006.

The article has now been published in "Teaching Mathematics and
Computer Science" [3], a refereed scientific journal of the University
of Debrecen, Hungary.

The ISC

  *  expresses support for having an official IOI Syllabus, eventually
     anchored in the IOI Regulations;
  *  expresses support for the motivation put forward in the article;
  *  recommends the principles behind the design of the proposed syllabus;
  *  recommends the structure of the proposed syllabus;
  *  recommends the technical content, i.e. Section 6.

ISC approved and adopted the proposed IOI Syllabus as is, for use by ISC.

  *  This version reflects current practice; it was authored by four
     experienced IOI persons.
  *  Even though may not be perfect, it is better than having no syllabus.
  *  Making (small) changes now would be counterproductive, because
     they give rise to new discussions (of a different nature).
  *  In the future, changes need to be made anyway, and these can
     include things that we may want to change now.

ISC asks GA to approve the proposed IOI Syllabus for the preparation of
future IOI competitions.  ISC has asked IC to formulate an amendment to
the IOI Regulations so as to incorporate the IOI Syllabus.

The article in the Statutes about the IOI Syllabus will

  *  explain the purpose of the IOI Syllabus:
       o  bind task authors, the ISC, and HSC in preparing competition tasks
       o  guide leaders, contestants, coaches in preparing to compete
       o  inform the general public about the scientific content of the IOI
  
  *  explain how the IOI Syllabus can evolve:
       o  written, motivated change requests are submitted to ISC
       o  ISC collects, reviews, consolidates change requests
       o  ISC formulates change proposal to GA
       o  GA votes to approve change proposals
       
  *  explain the application of the IOI Syllabus:
       o  ISC will see to it that it is applied in preparing competition tasks
       o  when there are differences of opinion in interpretation of
          the IOI Syllabus, then the ISC shall decide
          
References

[1] <http://www.bwinf.de/competition-workshop/>
[2] <https://phreax.net/bwinf-competition-workshop/wiki/>
[3] <<http://tmcs.math.klte.hu/Contents/2006-Vol-IV-Issue-I.html>