BOC-sponsored Sri Lankan students, excel at International Junior Science Olympiad
View(s):The Bank of Ceylon (BOC), as part of assisting Sri Lankan youth to excel as young scientists at global level, sponsored six Sri Lankan students who won bronze medals at the 16thInternational Junior Science Olympiad-(IJSO 2019) in December.
The Sri Lankan Team from left: Prof. W. U. Chandrasekara (Leader-Biology), Prof. N. A. K. P. J. Senevirathne (Leader-Chemistry), Kewwen Kurunarathna, Sithum Fernando, Gangadhee Iru Kumarasiri, Ravidu Ranatunga, Ravidu Kannangara, Ananthakrishnan Apilaash and Prof. H.H. Sumathipala (IJSO Country Coordinator and Leader-Physics).
The IJSO 2019 was held in Doha, Qatar on December 3-12. The event was organised by the Qatar Ministry of Education and Higher Education in collaboration with Qatar University. This international event hosted around 409 bright students from 70 countries around the world, who met during this prestigious academic event to test their knowledge and skills in physics, biology and chemistry. The competition comprised two individual theoretical tests followed by a practical test. Both subject and practical knowledge on biology, chemistry and physics are tested simultaneously through these rigorous tests and the best performing students and the teams were selected, the BOC said in a media release.
The Sri Lankan team to the IJSO led by the IJSO country coordinator Prof. H.H. Sumathipala was sponsored by the BOC, as the bank has been helping to promote science education in Sri Lanka for a considerable period of time. Since 2016, the BOC makes generous donations to the Institute of Physics Sri Lanka enabling the Sri Lankan teams to participate at the International Junior Science Olympiads held in Indonesia (2016), Netherlands (2017), Botswana (2018) and Qatar (2019), respectively.
Each year, Sri Lanka participates at the IJSO with six students who are trained by three university academics. The students for the IJSO are selected through the Sri Lankan Junior Science Olympiad (SLJSO), an examination held locally at each competition year.