The School Talent Search, which last year attracted nearly 40 000 entries, will be available online in 2014. Participation is free and schools are urged to enter.
The Talent Search does not involve song and dance, but is an aptitude test to indicate computational proficiency.
When the annual test was introduced in 2003 it attracted 11 000 entries. From the word go, schools used the results to advise learners to take the subjects IT or CAT at school. In 2013, there were almost 40 000 entries.
Although the test will be available online, schools that don’t have connectivity can still administer the “traditional” pen-and-paper Talent Search.
Peter Waker, manager of the South African Computer Olympiad. explains: “An online test allows for so many more possibilities than a pen-and-paper test. Drag-and-drop, cut-and-paste and other features are just not practical on paper but easy online.”
The pen-and-paper test is set by local education experts, using local and international sources, but the online test is set entirely by an international panel which includes a number of professors from European universities.
Waker adds: “About half our schools opt for the traditional pen-and-paper test while the other half will take the test online. Unfortunately not all schools have the infrastructure to test online yet.”
Schools are requested to enter by 1 March. More information about the Talent Search, the Applications Olympiad and the Programming Olympiad can be found at www.olympiad.org.za.