As many as 105 students from 31 High Schools participated in the National Chemistry Olympiad 2010 organized by the Chemistry Student Association, Faculty of Mathematics & Natural Science UGM, from 23-24 October 2010. Some participants came from the Province of West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Kalimantan and South Sulawesi.
The participants followed the selection process in the form of written tests, lab work, and presentations. From the 105 participants, 20 selected participants will be eligible for the next stage. The top 20 will be selected into the top 5. “The top 5 will take practicum and presentation exams to determine the first, second, and third winners," said the Chairman of Executive Committee, Dwi Adhi Hatmanto, to the reporters in the Faculty on Saturday (23/10).
Adi said that the number of participants who followed the competition this time has doubled compared to last year. "Compared to last year, the participants were only around 50," Adi said.
The competition is routinely conducted by the Chemistry Student Association annually. One of the aims is to introduce chemistry department among high school students. "In addition to introducing chemistry, we hope students will get accustomed to such competitions. We will give them certificates after the event,” said the man born in Yogyakarta on October 14, 1990.
The same thing was also delivered by Assistant Vice Dean for Academic Affairs of the Faculty, Drs. Janoel Hendarto, M. Com., in his welcoming speech at the opening ceremony. He said this annual competition is an event to promote the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences among the students. Not just as a promotional event, his office was trying that winners of this competition will have easier access to be admitted to UGM. "We are working on it, the possibility for the winners to get admitted to the Faculty," he said.
On that occasion, Hendarto congratulated the participants and accompanying teachers. He expects the students to compete fairly.
One of the chemistry teachers of SMAN 1 Kudus, Central Java, Drs. Mahmud Hilmi, conveyed his school sent six students to participate in this competition. The students were selected based on strict selection. "We selected the best students in class, usually from the first, second and third ranks,” said Mahmud.
For Mahmud, this Chemistry Olympiad is a training ground for their students to participate in National Science Olympiad. He hopes his students who are first to participate in this kind of competition can at least know the model and the format of chemistry questions that are often competed at national level. "We want to give them experience to get used to participate in the competition, preparing them to be ready for competitions," he concluded.