Registration for this prestigious competition closes on February 7.
The SAMO is the biggest Olympiad in South Africa and has been taking place on an annual basis since 1966.
It is organised by the South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF), an organisation that was established as an initiative of the Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa (AMESA) and the South African Mathematical Society (SAMS).
Sponsored by Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited and the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) the Olympiad takes place over three rounds and consists of a junior division for Grades Eight and Nine, and a senior division for Grades 10 to 12.
The first round of the Olympiad, which consists of 20 questions with multiple-choice answers, is written at the individual schools and marked by the teachers.
“Taking part in the Olympiad is not only for the gifted learners,” says Prof Johann Engelbrecht, executive director at SAMF.
“Last year more than 80 000 learners from over 1 000 high schools in South Africa took part in the first round. The important objective with the Olympiad is that everybody should participate; finding winners comes as a bonus.
“We at the Maths Foundation, and our sponsors, use the Olympiad as a vehicle to identify the most talented learners in the country,” continues Engelbrecht.
“Time and again these learners receive bursaries for their tertiary studies and are often employed by sponsors upon completion of their studies.”
Chantyl Mulder, senior executive: Transformation and Growth at SAICA, says that simply taking part in the Olympiad is already a great achievement.
“It challenges you and shows your willingness to learn.”
According to Engelbrecht there are numerous reasons why teachers should enter their learners in this Olympiad: learners will be exposed to problems that will test and improve their critical thinking skills; schools will benefit from learners’ participation in that they will get a better quality of product; Grade 12 learners specifically will benefit because the questions are similar to those used by universities as part of their entry-level testing.
Learners who obtain 50% or more for the first-round paper will advance to the second round that will take place on May 13.
The top 100 learners per division will then continue to the third and final round on September 10.
The results of the final round are taken into consideration to select the South African teams for the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) as well as the Pan African Mathematics Olympiad (PAMO) next year.
The entry fee for the Olympiad is R23 per learner but schools that enter more than 100 learners can do so at only R17 per learner.
The entry form can be downloaded from the SAMF web site (https://www.samf.ac.za/examquestions/samoentryform2014.pdf).
Alternatively teachers can contact the SAMF by dialling 012 392 9362 or by sending an email to info@samf.ac.za
