CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD
ABOUT CHEMISTRY OLYMPIAD
The International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) is an annual academic competition for high school students. It is one of the International Science Olympiads. The first IChO was held in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1968. The event has been held every year since then, with the exception of 1971.
The Chemistry Olympiad program follows the following 5 stages:
- Stage I: National Standard Examination in Chemistry (NSEC).
- Stage II: Indian National Chemistry Olympiad (INChO).
- Stage III:The Orientation cum Selection Camp in Chemistry (OC SC).
- Stage IV: Pre-departure Training Camp for IChO (PDT).
- Stage V:Participation in International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO).
Exam Schedule:
| Events | Dates |
|---|---|
| Stage I: NSEC | Last/second Last Sunday of November. |
| Stage II: INChO | Last week of January |
| Stage III: OCSC | April – June |
| Stage IV: PDT | July – November |
| Stage V: IChO | July – December |
Stage I: National Standard Examination in Chemistry (NSEC)
Exam Pattern and Structure:
Eligibility:
- All the Indian students born on or after July 1, 1997, also, in addition, those who are in Class XII or lower as of November 30, 2018, were eligible to appear for NSEC 2018 – 2019. Students who have passed Class XII exams are not eligible to enrol for the NSEC .In NSEC a student can appear for more than one subject in the Olympiad provided the examination schedule allows it, i.e. there is no overlap.
- It is entirely the student’s responsibility to ensure that his or her eligibility criteria is satisfied. During the course of programme at any given point of time if the eligibility criteria of any student would be found unsatisfactory, then he or she would be immediately rendered disqualified.
- The question paper consists of 80 multiple choice questions and each one has four given options with 1 correct answer. The exam language is English. The exam duration is 2 hours. NSEX exam does not emphasize on rote memory, but the comprehension of the structure.
- NSEC for 2018- 2019 programme was arranged on the November, 2018, Sunday. The last date for enrolment was September, 2018.
- All students who qualify to appear for the INChO get a certificate of merit from the IAPT.
Syllabus:
- The detailed guidelines for NSEC syllabus is not given but it is roughly estimated to be of the Class 11thand 12th standards (CBSE board). Those students who are interested in IChO must start preparing for it directly as the detailed syllabus of IChO is listed out (find in the IChO section below). In such a way NSEC syllabus will automatically get covered.
Qualifying for INChO
NSEC is the stepping stone for all the INOs (Indian National Olympiads). NSEC is conducted in order to reach out the maximum number of deserving students from across the country. The selection to INO, however is based on the fulfilment of the following criteria-
- Eligibility Clause: there is Minimum Admissible Score (MAS) to be attained in the NSEC so as to be eligible for any of the INO examinations (INChO here). Usually the MAS is 40% of the maximum score in any of the subjects under consideration (in this case- chemistry).
- Proportional Representation Clause (PRC): The number of students selected for Stage II (INO) in each subject is around 300.
- Minimum Representation Clause (MPC): Anyhow the proportional representation clause the number of students selected for INO from each State and UT must be at least one, given that the eligibility clause is satisfied.
- Merit Clause: Provided the eligibility clause, it is conceivable that 300 students may not qualify for Stage II in a subject. In case this occurs, the shortfall from 300 will be selected based purely on merit without further consideration to any proportional representation or minimum representation clauses. And in the event of a tie at the last position in the list all students with the same marks at this position will qualify to appear for the INOs.
Stage II: Indian National Chemistry Olympiad(INChO)
Eligibility:
- Students selected from Stage I examination- NSEC are eligible to appear for INChO. In addition, those students who have represented India in International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) in the previous year, need not appear for the first stage NSEC examination in chemistry. They may be allowed on special request to the National Co-ordinator for the respective subject, to directly appear for the second stage- Indian National Chemistry Olympiad (INChO) examination, provided they satisfy other eligibility criteria like as age, class, etc. applicable for the chemistry olympiad.
Exam Pattern and Structure:
- The INChO duration is of 3 hours. The date and time information of the exam is usually given out on HBCSE site in the 1st week of January every year. The confirmed schedule and dateis hosted on the site and also communicated to the eligible students by post, so that no one misses out this crucial information. Students who appear for INChO are eligible for Travel Allowance and Dearness Allowance as per the norms of the programme.
Syllabus:
- As for NSEC, the syllabus for INChO is also based roughly on the school syllabus of class 9th and 10th(CBSE board). However, the syllabus of higher secondary school is only a broad guideline. The problems and questions in National Chemistry Olympiad is usually non-conventional and of really high difficulty level, as comparable to International Chemistry Olympiad.
- On the basis of performance in INChO, the top 35 students in the merit list are selected for Stage III: OCSC- Orientation Cum Selection Camp in chemistry.
- In case of an event where there is a tie at the last position, each and every students with the same marks at this last position will qualify for OCSC.
- There is be no other criterion or provision for selection to OCSC.
Stage III: OCSC- Orientation cum Selection Camp in Chemistry
OCSC in chemistry is organized by HBCSE somewhere between April to June for 2-3 weeks each year. The exact dates are put up on the HBCSE site prior to or along with the announcement of the selection list of candidates for the OCSC.
Eligibility:
- Only the students selected from the merit list of INChO are eligible for this camp. There are no other criteria or provision for attending the same.
Structure and Details:
- This camps includes several experimental as well as theoretical tests. The orientation is provided to students especially for experiments. This camp concludes with a big valedictory function where many distinguished scientists are invited to speak and addressthe student members.
- OCSC merit list is prepared on the basis of the combined experimental and theoretical score aggregated from all of the tests conducted in the camp. In this, 60% weightage is for theory and 40% weightage is for experiment. In the camp, performance of the previous stages (NSEC and INChO) are not considered for the merit list or awards of the OCSC.
- Students who are the best 4 of the lot in OCSC chemistry merit list are declared as special merit awardees. The special merit awardees are given Rs.5, 000/- each in the form of books and cash. Apart from this, there are many other special prizes to recognize meritorious performances shown by students in theory and experiments.
- These 4 special merit awardees in chemistry, who are selected at the end of the OCSC, are the ones who constitute the 4 member student team for the IChO(International Chemistry Olympiad), provided they satisfy the required criteria of age limit, medical fitness, holding a valid Indian passport andparental consent, etc.
