RI students win medals at int'l physics contest

JAKARTA (JP): A group of Indonesian students won silver and bronze medals in the recent international physics contest in Canberra, Australia.

Teguh Mulia and four other youths joined the July 5-11 International Physics Olympics after they beat around 800 other high achievers in a selection process that the Ministry of Education and Culture began late last year.

Teguh won a silver medal, while Agus Bani Abdillah grabbed a bronze. Special achievement awards were also given to I Putu Adiartha, Herry and Rudy Raymond, all high school graduates.

Minister Wardiman Djojonegoro met with the team members and their coaches yesterday, and told reporters that the students had to forego their university entrance examinations once they made it on the team.

The team members, however, have recently been given overseas scholarships.

Indonesia plans to send another team of its brightest students to the 36th International Mathematics Olympics in Toronto, Canada. The event will be held from July 16 to 24.

The team will consist of six high school students from Jakarta, Surakarta and Surabaya, selected from among 540 students from the 27 provinces of Indonesia.

Earlier this month Wirawan Purwanto, a student at St. Albertus High School in Malang, East Java, won a silver medal at the International Computer Information Olympics in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. (05)