25^rd Pan African Mathematics Olympiad

PAMO 2017

1 to 6 July 2017
Venue: ENS, University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco

Procedures for Participation

Preamble:

The African Mathematical Union Commission on the Pan African Mathematics Olympiads has published new PAMO regulations, applicable from January 1, 2001. These regulations cover matters that do not change from year to year. If a host country wishes to vary any of them, they must obtain the agreement of the AMUPAMO beforehand.
In addition to these permanent regulations, each year the AMUPAMO, in consultation with the Local Organizing Committee of the current PAMO, will make procedures relating to:

• the place and dates of the next PAMO
• the date by which official acceptance of the invitation to participate must be received
• the date by which participating countries must send information about team leaders and team members
• the date by which problems proposed for the competition must be received by the LOC
• the official programme of the Olympiad.

The 25rd Pan African Mathematics Olympiad PAMO/PAMO(G) 2017 will take place in Rabat, Morocco from 1 to 6 July 2017.

The official languages of PAMO/PAMO(G) are French and English

Important: Resolution of the Jury of PAMO 2003, Maputo, 25 April 2003:During the past working session of the Jury of PAMO 2003, the members discussed the ranking by country and agreed that for future editions of PAMO the ranking by country should be determined by the total number of points of all the members of the team, even if the team consists of fewer than the allowed members.

1. Participation in PAMO 2017

• Participation in PAMO/PAMO(G) is by invitation.
• Each invited country wishing to participate in PAMO(G) 2017 must send an official acceptance, which must be received before, April 30, 2017 by:    
  • Insp. Soma Traore, President, AMUPAMO,
    E-mail: somatraore@yahoo.fr
    &
  • Prof Nouzha El Yacoubi, President PAMO 2017 LOC
    E-mail: n.elyacoubi@yahoo.fr / pamo2017.loc@gmail.com

N.B The registration to PAMO 2017 should be done through the PAMO Website: PAMO-Official.org

2. Teams  

2.1. NEW !   Each country is entitled to send to the host country, namely Morocco (Rabat), a team consisting of a team leader, a Deputy Team leader and six (6) pupils (3 boys & 3 girls).
2.2.    The team leader must be a mathematics teacher at the secondary or tertiary level.
2.3.    Each pupil must be less than twenty (20) years old on the day of the second examination paper.
2.4.    Pupils must not be enrolled in any post-secondary institution.
2.5.    Each participating country must provide Insp. Soma Traoré & Prof. Nouzha El Yacoubi with contact details: address, phone, fax numbers, E-mails…
2.6.    Each participating country must provide, before, May 31,2017 , Prof. Nouzha El Yacoubi with the list of its team members and send a copy to Insp. Soma Traore  by mail.
2.7.    Deputy leader:
NEW ! The team leader of each participating country should  be assisted by a deputy leader to supervise the welfare of the team. The deputy leader may not attend the working sessions of the Jury.  
IMPORTANT :  For every team arrived at Rabat, without a deputy team leader , the team leader will be asked to ensure the responsibilities of the deputy team leader for his  (her) candidates, thus he will  not allowed to participate to the Jury sessions, marking, coordination and deliberations. 

3. The responsibility of the host and the participating countries

3.1     NEW ! The responsibility of the host country:
3.1.1.The host country covers accommodation, meals and local transport costs of:

• The team leader, the deputy team leader and the team members of each participating country.
• The representatives of the African Mathematical Union, in particular the President and/or the Secretary General of AMU, the President of the AMUPAMO and the Mediator of PAMO/PAMO(G) 2017.
• Three Mathematics Olympiads specialists invited by the AMUPAMO in agreement with the LOC.

3.1.2. The host country covers the travel costs of :

• The Chairman of the Jury for PAMO (the Chairman of AMUPAMO)
• The Chairman of the Problems Committee (the Mediator)
• Three invited specialists.

3.1.3. The host country takes care of all the Olympiad necessities, it awards medals, prizes and certificates of participation

• Medals for candidates: Gold Medals, Silver Medals and Bronze Medals will be awarded in approximately the ratio 1:2:3.The total number of medals awarded will not be more than half of the number of contestants.  The first female contestant will be crowned “African Mathematics Queen. 2017”
• Medals for countries: Countries will be ranked by taking the total of the scores of their team members. The team leaders of the top three countries will be awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals.

A special dinner is offered to all the participants after the Closing Ceremony. The Prize Giving and Closing Ceremony is the most important Ceremony of the event.
3.2 The responsibility of the participating countries:
Participating countries are responsible for all the travel costs of their team to and from Morocco (Rabat)

4. The Mediator

4.1.The AMUPAMO appoints for each PAMO and for the term of one year a Mediator, who must be an African mathematician who is a prominent member of the AMU and has a good experience of PAMO.

The appointed Médiator for PAMO 2017 is Inpector Charles Coagri NASSOURI (Burkina Faso). E-mail: ccnassouri@yahoo.fr
4.2.The Mediator must be fluent in both official languages of PAMO: English and French
4.3.The Mediator is required to:

• Collect a bank of Mathematics Olympiads Problems and to make it available to the Problems Committee (see 6).
• Participate in the various working meetings.
• Provide mediation before and during the marking process, in case of disputes between members of the Jury.

5. Mathematical Problems for PAMO 2017

5.1 (i) Every member of the AMUPAMO is required to propose three problems of 1h30 duration with solutions for the Olympiad.
(ii) Each country taking part in the Olympiad is required to submit six problems of 1h 30 duration with solutions for the Olympiad.
5.2.The problems must cover, as far as possible, different areas of interest of pre-university mathematics and should be of different levels of difficulty. The problems must be submitted in English or in French.
5.3.The problems must be sent to the PAMO 2017 Mediator Insp. Charles Coagri Nassouri with a copy to the AMUPAMO President before  May 31, 2017
Problems submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.

6. OPAM 2017 Problems Committee

The Problems Committee of the PAMO will include :

• As Chairman : The Mediator of PAMO 2017 (Insp Charles Coagri Nassouri)
• As members:                
  • The AMUPAMO President (insp Soma Traoré)
  • The PAMO 2017 LOC President (Prof. Nouzha El Yacoubi)
  • The invited specialists
  • An invited member of the host country

The Problems Committee members will meet in Rabat, Morocco, in June 30, 2017 and July 1, 2017 in order to work on the Problems proposals received before the deadline, and to recommend the short list of 15 to 20 problems.

7. The Jury

7.1     The Jury is composed of the AMUPAMO President, the PAMO 2017 LOC President, the PAMO 2017 Mediator, The member of the AMUPAMO from the host country (if applicable), and the team leaders of the participating countries.
The invited specialists and the observers may attend the Jury but do not have the right to vote.
The Jury is chaired by the AMUPAMO President, namely Insp. Soma Traoré.
7.2.    Each team leader must be proficient in one of the two official languages of PAMO, English and French, and must be able to translate the selected problems into the official language of his or her team.
7.3.    The Jury has the responsibility to select 12 problems from the short list recommended by the Problems Committee. 

8. The Supervising Committee

8.1     The Supervising Committee is composed of the AMUPAMO President, the PAMO 2017 LOC President and the PAMO 2017 Mediator.
8.2     The Supervising Committee has the responsibility of choosing 6 problems from the 12 selected by the Jury for the current Olympiad.
8.3     The Supervising Committee has responsibility for setting the question papers and resolving any problems of coordination.

9. Marking and Co-ordination

The AMUPAMO in agreement with the PAMO 2017 LOC will appoint a team of co-ordinators who will meet with the Jury when the final selection of six problems has been made and the mark schemes are drawn up.
Each problem will be awarded a mark (a whole number in the range from 0 to 7)
The solutions of the contestants will initially be assessed by their team leader. The team leader will present the solutions of the contestants to a co-ordinator, and a mark for each question will be agreed upon in accordance with the marking scheme. The scores will be recorded on an official form and signed by the team leader and the co-ordinator.
If the team leader and the co-ordinator fail to agree on a score for a contestant, the matter will be referred to the Supervising Committee whose decision shall be final.

10.Prizes

10.1    The host country awards medals, prizes and certificates of participation
10.2   a) Medals for candidates: Gold Medals, Silver Medals and Bronze Medals will be awarded in approximately the ratio 1:2:3.The total number of medals awarded will not be more than half of the number of contestants.
b) Medals for countries: Countries will be ranked by taking the total of the scores of their team members. The team leaders of the top three countries will be awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals.
10.3   Special prizes may be awarded for solutions considered outstanding by the Jury.
10.4   Each contestant who has not won a medal will receive a certificate of Honourable Mention if he or she has scored full marks (7) for at least one problem.
10.5   The host country must provide certificates of participation for all the candidates who took part in the Olympiad, and special certificates for the winners of Gold, Silver or Bronze Medals, Honourable Mention and special prizes.
10.6   All the certificates should be co-signed by the AMUPAMO and PAMO 2017 LOC Presidents.

11. Gifts:

Each participating country should bring gifts of a cultural nature to be exchanged with participants from other countries.

12. Syllabus:

There is no official syllabus. The problems must cover, as far as possible, different areas of interest of pre-university education, in particular Algebra, Geometry, Number Theory, Combinatory and probability.
Problems must be original. Students must be able to solve them only with basic arguments without referring to sophisticated theoretical knowledge.

13.PAMO/PAMO(G) 2017 Agenda :

Deadline :

• April 30, 2017: deadline of notification of participation in PAMO 2017, which must be received by Insp. Soma Traoré, the AMUPAMO President, and Prof Nouzha El Yacoubi,  the PAMO 2017 LOC President.
• May 31, 2017 : deadline of receipt of the list of the teams members  By Prof Nouzha El Yacoubi,  PAMO 2017 LOC President  
• May 31, 2017 : deadline of receipt of the problems proposals for PAMO 2017 by Insp. Coagri Nassouri, the PAMO 2017 Mediator with a copy to Insp. Soma Traoré the AMUPAMO President,.