Indonesia searching for its 'Einsteins'
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The hope of finding future Indonesian Einsteins is the driving force behind the country's bid hosting of the first International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO), which is now underway.
"Indonesia (as a country) is said to be weak in science. Therefore, we want to find young talents in that field. Who knows, in 20 years time they might win the Nobel prize (in science)," an organizing committee member, Riwanda Sihombing, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
The Olympiad, which will run through Dec. 14, takes "Einstein, 100 years" as its theme to commemorate the contribution of Albert Einstein to science.
There are 181 students from 30 countries, including Indonesia, who are aged between 12 and 15 years old participating in the event.
The international competition will also serve as a testing ground for Indonesian students to measure their prowess against students from abroad.
There are 12 Indonesian representatives, who were selected from Jakarta, Papua, Central Java, South Sulawesi, Lampung and South Sulawesi. They all had won selection competitions at the provincial level.
As the host, Indonesia has the privilege of fielding two teams. Other countries are allowed to send one team made up of a maximum of six students.
Riwanda said the tests were prepared by a joint team of lecturers from the University of Indonesia (UI), the Bandung Institute of Technology and Airlangga University, and academics from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).
"The tests were assessed by another team consisting of lecturers from Padjadjaran University and LIPI. A day before each test, we meet with the foreign delegations to see whether the materials are acceptable," he said.
The tests are presented in multiple choice, essay and experiment format covering physics, chemistry and biology.
To prevent leakage of the test materials to the participants, "we isolate the students and keep them away from all kinds of communication."
"Participants stay in different hotels from their team leaders, with no phones, pagers, or internet facilities," said Riwanda, who is also a lecturer at the School of Mathematics and Science in UI.
During the closing ceremony on Dec. 13, the best students will be awarded with trophies and medals.
"Trophies will be given for Best Theory, Best Experiment and Absolute categories," said IJSO coordinator Hidayat Muchtar.
He said either the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, Alwi Shihab, or Minister of National Education Bambang Sudibyo would close the event at the Fantasy World amusement park in North Jakarta.