GIS Student for Math Olympiad
A student of Ghana International School (GIS), Miss Sefa Yakpo, is the first Ghanaian to qualify for the upcoming International Math Olympiad, to be held in South Africa this year.
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The International Math Olympiad gives students who perform well in math from 142 countries around the world the platform to compete in the subject.
Miss Yakpo, 18, is the first representative from Ghana to make it to the Olympiad in its 55-year history.
To get to this stage, she first had to compete against 273 other young Ghanaians who registered with the local math NGO, the MISE Foundation.
The MISE Foundation, a member of the International Math Association, is the only body in the country authorised to search, test and submit candidates to represent Ghana at the International Math Olympiad.
Speaking about her achievement, Miss Yakpo said she was pleasantly surprised because when she participated in the competition last year she found it very difficult but determined not to give up.
“When I went to the MISE summer camp, I didn’t think I had what it took, but my mother encouraged me to stay in the programme and now I’m excited to have achieved so much. I hope this will make others know that they can do anything they focus on.”
Miss Yakpo, who is also a prefect at GIS, will travel to South Africa in July, after sitting for the A-Level Examinations in Further Math, Math, Chemistry and Physics.
She has already received offers to study in three world renowned universities – Cambridge University, the University of Manchester and the University of Bath, all in the United Kingdom.
She hopes to study Chemical Engineering for her degree programme in one of the three universities.
The Principal of GIS, Mrs Diana Nyatepe-Coo, said, “We are all extremely proud of her. She is an inspiration to all particularly her peers,” she added.
The Founder of the MISE Foundation, Mr Joel Dogoe, said “I’m very proud of Sefa’s achievement and we wish her the best”.
Meanwhile, two other GIS students, Bianca Amoabeng and Atal Tripathi, will be joining six other students from Ghana to compete in the Junior Math Olympiad in South Korea. Nana Afia Twum-Barimah-Adu would also be joining two other students from Ghana to Hong Kong for the Primary Math World Contest. These competitions take place in July 2014.