This competition, which was first held in 1966, has, for the past 10 years, been organised by the national office for mathematics, the South African Mathematics Foundation (SAMF), and is sponsored by Liberty and the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA).
The first round of the Samo will take place in March, at each individual school; the duration is one hour and the school can schedule its own date.
First round parcels consisting of the final instructions regarding round one, the question papers, answer sheets, solutions and certificates will be couriered as soon as the SAMF receives the school’s entry form.
Prof Johann Engelbrecht, executive director at the SAMF said: “Mathematics has, through the ages, been seen as the queen of all sciences; everything in existence is supported by mathematics.
“Even the prosperity of a country is dependent on mathematics.”
According to Engelbrecht, examples of careers in mathematics include, but are not limited to, engineering, statistics and the most recent development, biology.
He said that DNA analysis, for instance, is a mathematical theory and that even fingerprints and retina scans need mathematics for classification.
“This makes biological mathematics one of the most exciting careers and it will play a major role in the field of science in the next century,” he added.
“Participation in the Samo (and other SAMF programmes) ultimately prepares a learner for tertiary education.
“The type of mathematical problems with which participants are faced during each round of this Olympiad is very similar to what can be expected at university level.”
Engelbrecht strongly recommends that all learners who plan to further their education at university take part in the Olympiad from an early age.
“Our learner development programme starts at Grade Four and the majority of past winners of the high school Olympiads have been taking part since they were 10 years old,” he said.
The entry fee is R24 per learner for schools in South Africa, and schools with more than 100 entrants can enter at a reduced fee of R20 per learner.
Schools and teachers who wish to enter can contact the SAMF by telephone on 012 392 9362, or send an e-mail to info@samf.ac.za. The entry form is also available online at www.samf.ac.za.
