A grade 11 pupil from Kuilsriver, in the Western Cape, has won the top prize in the final round of the Standard Bank/Computer Society of SA (CSSA) South African Computer Olympiad, held in Cape Town this weekend.
Francois Conradie, a grade 11 learner at De Kuilen High School, won R41 000, the Standard Bank trophy and also the top Python programming prize of R30 000.
A statement from Standard Bank says this is the second time Conradie has made it to the first round finals. In 2007, he won a R10 000 prize for being one of the top programmers using the computer language Python.
The computer Olympiad is an annual competition said to identify, encourage and reward programming skills among high school learners. More than 23 000 entries were received for the first round this year, and 2 700 for the second round. Sixteen learners were invited to take part in the final round, which took place last week at the University of Cape Town.
Other winners
The computer Olympiad silver medallists included Kosie van der Merwe, a grade 11 learner at Brackenfell High School, in the Western Cape, and Robert Ketteringham a grade 12 learner at Rondebosch Boys' High, in Cape Town.
Bronze medal winners included Michiel Baird, of Elspark High School, in Gauteng, Haroon Moolla, of Rondebosch Boys' High, and Schalk-Willem Kr"uger, in Grade 11 at Ferdinand Postma High School, in North West Province.
IT billionaire Mark Shuttleworth donated more than R100 000 in prize money for the top six participants who used the computer language Python in the final round of the competition. This was the language used by Shuttleworth to develop the software on which his first successful business was built. The top prize of R30 000 went to Conradie again.
Promoting IT Olympiads
CSSA director Peter Waker said, during the prize-giving ceremony, the education system is delivering fewer informatics experts than the world needs. He went on to say this is a worldwide trend, yet the Department of Science and Technology and the Department of Education are taking steps to encourage interest in science, engineering and technology.
Waker, who won the Fellowship Award during the CSSA's IT Personality of the Year Awards last week, has been lauded for his efforts in starting up the computer Olympiad. The CSSA director was also instrumental in supporting the South African team that participated at the International Olympiad Informatics. Team SA walked away with a bronze medal.
"The problems were extremely challenging this year, and many participants had to go home with a zero score. Obtaining a bronze under those circumstances is an excellent achievement,” said Waker.
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