From: "Peter Taylor" <REMOVETHIS_pjt[at]REMOVETHISolympiad.org>
Subject: RE: [IOI] [IOI-announce] Timeline for IOI Syllabus feedback
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2006 09:56:25 +1000

Dear Tom

Australia doesn't have an official position on the stllabus and Ben's view
is a little different than mine, although not necessarily inconsistent. It
was mentioned at the GA that Physics, Chemistry and Biology have syllabi. It
was not mentioned that mathematics does not have one and in my view would be
unlikely to adopt one.

I can see the reasons why people are proposing a syllabus - it makes it
cleaerer to arrange training, particularly for a new country, even though
all current countries seem to have got where they are now without much need
for one.

Also I have not read the paper of which you are a co author but I am told it
is very good and that perhaps after reading it any concerns would be
diminished.

My main point really is though that I have got into Olympiads pertly because
of a distaste for a syllabus driven system. I find that exams in a syllabus
driven system tend not to select the students who will be able to cope with
an unforeseen situation, as they must in real life.

In mathematics I have seen excellent students (Olympiad medallists) not win
their school maths prizes, even though it is clear they are much better than
the winner. I have seen students who are supposedly the best in exams come
to my enrichment classes and they can't solve a real problem.

The reason I am attracted to Olympiads is that one is free to set problems
in a style which might not be possible when a syllabus might prevent it.
Whereas people might feel that the proposed IOI syllabus is not as tight as
a school syllabus in the same sense there is still something there which
worries me. My feeling is that IOI is fine and if it ain't broke there is
nothing to fix.

Cheers
Peter