Student delegates from the St. Louis University Baguio City team | Photo via DepEd
PASIG CITY, Philippines – Students from Colegio de San Agustin Makati (CSA-Makati) and Saint Louis University (SLU) Baguio City clinched awards at the 2nd Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Science Olympiad (SEOSO) held at Penang, Malaysia.
Competing against 26 groups from 11 countries in Southeast Asia, CSA-Makati won the Overall Champion and Best Completer Finisher Awardee in the Secondary School category (13-18 years old). SLU received the Best Completer Finisher Award in the Primary School category (7-12 years old).
The winning CSA-Makati team members were given medals and a cash prize. They were also honored to display the Philippine flag during the awarding ceremony. Rafael Felipe Viterbo, Eunyou Park, Lakan Diwa Fuentes, and Jodi Vien Mariano represented the school.
SLU-Baguio delegates comprised Jamie S. Espejo, Erin Shane D. Gumanlaw, Yuhan Nayri T. Padyosan, Paul Gabriele M. Bautista, Greysean A. Ngolab, Rayne Earl H. Diaron, Lyndsay Avy E. Malibiran, Danille Thereze S. Amansec, and Lara Annika Paula E. Namoca.
The SEOSO competition had four levels to complete. The first and second were individual Science and Math written exams; the third was STEM Challenge, a group practical exam for the groups to create a tower that could hold a soda can. Groups were judged with parameters of cost, stability, mobility, time of completion, and height. The final level was an oral presentation of the finished product. Each group had to market/sell their work to a panel of judges.
According to the Department of Education (DepEd), SEOSO aims “to stimulate scientific thinking and knowledge exploration amongst students at secondary school levels by applying knowledge to real-life technological problem-solving skills to address multiple issues, including sustainable development.”
The Science Olympiad also “encourages young learners to pursue scientific knowledge and increases their awareness about the relationship between various science fields in their daily lives while aiming to foster camaraderie and networking among these young learners during the event.” It is considered a unique platform of inspiration and scientific knowledge stimulation for future scientists and science academicians in Southeast Asia and beyond.
The president of the SEAMEO Council is Vice President Sara Duterte and the concurrent Secretary of Education of the Philippines. She began her presidency for two years on February 8, 2023, after Singapore’s Chan Chung Sing, who served from June 17, 2021, to February 8, 2023.
SEAMEO has 11 member countries, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, East Timor, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The SEAMEO Science Olympiad is one of Southeast Asia’s most anticipated academic competitions.
–With Jay Domingo/PDM
