Despite concerted efforts by government and the ICT industry to promote ICT education among black pupils and girls, none reached the final round of this year`s Computer Olympiad in SA.
The 12 finalists this year are boys from various high schools around the country.
Peter Waker, chairman of Olympiad organiser the Computer Society of SA, says significant numbers of girls and black students entered the competition this year, and it is not clear why so few did well.
"Judging from the number of names and schools and individuals, there was a significant participation from historically disadvantaged individuals in the first round," says Waker.
"This year saw 12 855 learners participating in the Computer Olympiad, of whom 60% were boys and 40% girls. The number of girls participating increased by 2% from 38% in 2003 to 40% this year.
"At least 26% of those who qualified for the second round this year were girls, which is a significant improvement over last year, when no girls reached the second round.
"This is a worldwide problem," Waker notes. "Even at the International Olympiad in Informatics, the participation is more than 90% male."
Waker says he cannot comment on the number of black learners who took part, because the Computer Olympiad does not use racial classifications. However, the finalist list does not appear to have many - if any - black students on it.
Waker says this could be because some schools lacked infrastructure or qualified teachers, or because of different priorities in teaching.
"The reason why very few previously disadvantaged learners come through to the final round could be the subject for a major study. The Computer Olympiad has in the past run training camps for disadvantaged individuals identified by their schools. However, a lack of funding has placed this programme on hold."
Rethinking education
Neville Naidoo, chairman of the Black IT Forum, is concerned about the outcome of the competition.
"The CSSA is running a good competition, but it becomes a problem when you find that the privileged learners are the only ones making it to the finals. We need to fast-track full participation of previously disadvantaged learners; in that way we complement the whole idea of transformation.
"We need to find where the problem lies, and possibly rethink the whole education system.
"The historical imbalance of this country has led to some women being poorly represented in the ICT industry. Full participation of the previously disadvantaged is a necessity, not only to succeed in competitions, but also to be able to one day effectively contribute to the ICT sector."
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Computer Olympiad finalists announced
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