When will Tanzania win a Gold in Mathematical Olympiad?

In September last year (2012), a student named Kelvin Severin Furaha from Feza Boys Secondary School, won a bronze in the Pan African Mathematical Olympiad (PAMO). This was the second time for Tanzania to participate and the first time to win a medal since the competition was started. The first attempt was in 1989 when the event was held in Nigeria. Tanzania sent two students and they were escorted by Professor Ralph Masenge, then a National Committee member of the Mathematical Association of Tanzania (MAT/CHAHITA).The two Tanzanian students did not win any medal due to lack of international competition exposure. 

Tanzania has not won international competitions very often despite her desire to do so. Many of you will remember how happy Tanzanians became when Filbert Bayi won a gold medal in the mile race during the All- Africa Games were held in Lagos, Nigeria. He surprisingly beat the world star, Kipchoge Keino of Kenya. Later on, Filbert Bay went ahead to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, thereby breaking the world record in the 1500-metre event, New Zealand and also broke the world record for that event. This became an eye opener for Tanzanians to win medals.

 We saw Titus Simba, Gedamis Shahanga, Juma Ikangaa and Ramadhani Naali bring medals to Tanzania and we were very thrilled by their achievement. We also felt happy when Nancy Sumari emerged Africa’s best in the miss world beauty contest. We also appreciated very much Mrs Betty Mkwasa’s world CNN award in the AIDS fight campaign. We feel great when a Tanzania brings fame to the country.

The Pan African Mathematical Olympiad is a prestigious event of the African Mathematical Union (AMU) organised each year in an African country. It is a mathematical competition for high school students from Africa. It is organised annually to encourage youthful talent in mathematics and to exchange information on curricular and teaching methods across the African continent. It also establishes friendly relations between African mathematicians. 

The competition follows the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) format which gives six problems to be solved in two days and each problem being worth 7 points. The distribution of awards also resembles that of IMO. The IMO has existed for more than 50 years. Every year each participating country selects 6 best mathematics performing high school students to compete. The students compete individually solving all the six problems in two days. In each day, they are given three problems to solve in four and half hours. 

The 21^st edition of PAMO (PAMO 2012) took place in Tunisia from 8th September to 16^th September, 2012. Three students from Tanzania namely,  Erica Mtenga, Samwel Donath Tarimo and Kelvin Severine Furaha participated. One student, Erica Catherine Mtenga was selected by MAT/CHAHITA and sponsored by Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) and the other two were from Feza Boys Secondary School. Feza Secondary School sponsored the two students (Samwel and Kelvin) from the school plus a teacher (Ertugrul Tarhan) who escorted them. Eight countries participated namely, Tunisia, South Africa, Nigeria, Bukinafaso, Ivory Coast (Cote d’voire), Tanzania, Gambia and Egypt.

Tanzania ranked six in the 2012 competition. The order of performance starting with the best was as follows: Tunisia, South Africa, Nigeria, Bukinafaso, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Gambia and Egypt. Egypt sent only one participant. Tunisia, the host country, got 116 points whereas Tanzania got 31 points. These points enabled Tanzania to acquire one bronze medal.

Although Erica Mtenga did not individually win a medal she was happy with the exposure. When interviewed by the MAT/CHAHITA National Committee upon return from Tunis she was happy with the results. She said,“I have enjoyed participating in that great competition. I join the Tanzanians to congratulate the boy from Feza Boys in getting us the consolation medal. I would like to thank MAT, TCRA and the Government for their encouragement and support. It was a tough encounter.”

PAMO believes that becoming an expert in mathematics problem solving is rewarding and creates fun. It takes a lot of time and needs a lot of practice. The PAMO is a preparation for the IMO. Africa needs to reclaim its position in the forefront of the world’s mathematics stage, particularly because mathematics was born in Africa. A notched calendar stick over 35000 years old discovered recently in the Lehombo Mountains is the oldest mathematical artefact known. Written mathematics was first found in Africa in the papyri of the pyramid builders of ancient Egypt between four and five thousand years ago.

It is also worth noting that the African Mathematical Union  (AMU) in cooperation with the entire community in Nigeria have announced that the eighth Pan African Congress of mathematicians will be held in Abuja, Nigeria from 30^th June to 8^th July 2013. The congress will be preceded by the 2013 PAMO from 23th to 30^th June. Also we should be informed that the 55^th International Mathematics Union (IMO) will take place sat the University of Cape Town in South Africa in July 2014. This is the first time that this important event will take place in Africa. AMU encourages all African countries to participate.

MAT/CHAHITA recognises the need to put Tanzania in the map of African mathematicians by conducting a Mathematics contest at junior and senior levels. Every school is allowed to participate by paying a small participation fee to take care of stationery. Winners are awarded prizes and certificates. Winners in the senior competition are considered for participation in the PAMO. Tanzania should also think of hosting the PAMO in future.  Failure to participate in PAMO has been due to lack of sponsorship. We call for donors and enthusiastic stakeholders to support these competitions.

Just imagine how thrilled the Tanzanians will feel when it wins gold in the Olympiad! It will certainly be ‘a dream comes true’. We all noticed how happy football lovers in Tanzania felt recently when Taifa Stars beat Zambia (Chipopolo) and Cameroon (indomitable Lions) in the FIFA friendly matches. Zambia was last year’s champion in the AFCON and Cameroon has made a great name in the World Cup. We saw how jubilant the football lovers felt when Taifa Stars beat the Morocco lions of Atlas in a world cup qualifying first leg (home game) in Dar es Salaam. We need to encourage and support them.

End. Prof Beniel Seka is a retired Chief Curriculum Developer from Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE) and is the Mathematics Research Coordinator for MAT/CHAHITA. He is reachable via email through sekabeniel@yahoo.com and sekabeniel@gmail.com and can be reached through mobile using +255784498893