Top South African Performers Recognised In Iitpsa Computer Olympiad

Over 5000 learners from 159 schools nationwide entered the 2024 Programming Olympiad and 1010 learners from 122 schools were invited to take part in the second round 17 top achievers from 15 schools participated in the final round.

IITPSA president Pearl Pasi said the Computer Olympiad is one of the oldest and largest challenges of its kind in the world. The Computer Olympiads have been running in South Africa for over 35 years and are aimed at developing problem solving and ICT skills among learners of all ages.

This is in line with the IITPSAs focus on skills development and our commitment to encouraging more young people to enter the IT industry. Our Computer Olympiad activities include the Talent Search STEM challenge for younger learners, the Computer Applications Olympiad for those who take CAT or the ICDL and the Computer Programming Olympiad for learners who have mastered a computer language. Top performers in the Programming Olympiad benefit from a chance to participate in the International Olympiad in Informatics, which will be in Bolivia next year.

The winner of a gold medal was Noah Jacobsen in grade 11 at St John's College, Gauteng. Silver medals were awarded to Youkyum Kim in grade 10 at Reddam House Durbanville and Nico Schreuder in grade 11 at Bishops Diocesan College in the Western Cape.

Bronze medals were awarded to Ruan Schoeman in grade 12 at Homeschool Midrand, Erik Senekal in grade 10 at Horskool Menlopark and Yian Xu in grade 10 at Redhill High in Gauteng.