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BRONZE FOR SOUTH AFRICA IN PAN AFRICAN MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD

Wednesday, 12 July 2017

This year 46 official contestants from 10 African countries took part in the 25th Pan African Mathematics Olympiad (PAMO) from 1 to 6 July in Rabat, Morocco.  The South African team came third overall, behind Morocco and Tunisia with four individual bronze medals.

The PAMO is an annual event of the African Mathematics Union organised each year in an African country where the best pupils in Mathematics of the Secondary Education who are less than twenty years old, are invited to compete.

The South African Mathematics Foundation’s programmes such as the prestigious South African Mathematics Olympiad are used to select and train learners for international competitions. Sixty of our country’s best young mathematicians were invited to an Olympiad camp in December 2016 at the University of Stellenbosch, whereafter the group was trimmed down to 21 high school learners for the April camp in Cape Town. During this camp 6 learners were selected to represent South Africa at the PAMO and another 6 were selected to participate in the International Mathematical Olympiad from 16 to 23 July in Brazil.  

Emile Tredoux (Grade 11, Parklands College), Malwande Nkonyane (Grade11, Horizon International High School), Emma Nel (Grade 12, Hoërskool Outeniqua) and Klara Eybers (Grade 10, Hoërskool Menlopark) won bronze medals at the 2017 PAMO. The other team members were Rauseenah Upadhey (Grade 11, Westerford High School) and Kgaugelo Bopape (Grade 9, Horizon International High School).

The 10 participating countries were ranked as follows:

  1. Morocco

  2. Tunisia

  3. South Africa

  4. Ivory Coast

  5. Nigeria

  6. Botswana

  7. Burkina Faso

  8. Kenya

  9. Togo

  10. Tanzania

 

The team was accompanied by Dylan Nelson (leader) and Lauren Denny (deputy leader), two former South African Mathematics Olympiad (SAMO) medallists, who also assisted the team with their final preparation at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cape Town a week prior to their departure to Morocco. According to Dylan Nelson the Moroccan team was exceptionally strong and Tunisia has recently started entering teams in the European Girls Mathematics Olympiad resulting in an improved performance by their team.  ‘The South African team was perhaps relatively inexperienced compared to South African teams that have participated in the past, but performed reasonably well,’ said Dylan Nelson, the South African team leader.

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Issued by the South African Mathematics Foundation. To arrange interviews with the team contact:

Ellie Olivier

Operational Manager

Email: ellie@samf.ac.za

Tel: 012 392 9323/72

12 July 2017

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