Mexico

Academia Mexicana de Ciencias A.C.

amc.mx/olimpiadanacionaldebiologia/OlimpiadaNacional.html

The National Biology Olympiad is organized in 2 rounds. 

The main organizing institutions of the first round are the state universities.

The main organizer of the second round, the National Biology Olympiad, is the Academia Mexicana de Ciencias A.C. (Mexican Academy of Sciences)

The first round takes place the last week of October, and the participants are the students of 31 states of the country.

Each state has a delegate responsible for organizing its State Biology Olympiad and getting the resources required to perform it.

 The second round, the National Biology Olympiad, takes place the last week of November. The participants are six students from each state, the winners of the first round. This round takes place every year in a different state of the country that hosts the National Biology Olympiad. It is sponsored locally by the State University, Ministry of Education or State government, and by the Academia Mexicana de Ciencias (50/50).

The organizing committee, working in collaboration with the state delegate of the host state, is responsible for the organization of the National Biology Olympiad.

The number of students that participate in the first round varies each year but is around 5500.

55% boys and 45% girls. 90% from public schools and 10% from private schools.

Ten states organize a regional Biology Olympiad, before the State Olympiad (preselection).

The questions for the first round are elaborated according to the IBO syllabus and are 60 multiple choice questions and 40 true/false questions.

For the first round, the tests are produced by teachers and researchers from universities or research institutions of the 31 states. The exam committee is responsible for reviewing and approving the questions and elaborating the test that will be applied to all the students who participate in the first round. The students will take the test at the corresponding state university.

A practical test is conducted in 7 states.

The questions for the second round are elaborated according to the IBO syllabus and are 40 multiple choice questions, and 60 are true/false questions.

For the second round, the theory and practical tests are produced by members of the National Biology Olympiad organizing committee, who are teachers and researchers from different universities and research institutes of Mexico City. 

We only train the students for ten days, as is established (April and June)

The time the students spent studying at home or school depends on each student's commitment and motivation and their delegate and teachers' engagement. It is different for each state and school.

No special materials are developed to prepare the students. Teachers from the different states prepare the students with their material and make it available to them. The students have access to school textbooks, university textbooks, review articles recommended by teachers, and the students practice with former NBO and IBO tests.

The students get medals and certificates. Sometimes they get books and some gifts. It depends on the support received from the sponsors. The gold medal winners receive a scholarship to participate in the "Summer of Research" and they can stay in the lab they choose for the whole summer participating with the researchers in all the lab activities. The Ministry of Education grants them a scholarship to obtain their bachelor´s degree in Mexico.

Only students enrolled in any of the high school modalities (3).

The school year starts the last week of August and ends the first week of July

4 hours/week

3 hours theory

1 hour laboratory

4 hours/week

The delegates of the 31 states are responsible for the promotion.

They send invitations and e-mails to the principals of all schools and publish a call, so all students are informed and can participate in the State Biology Olympiad.

The state delegate is responsible for sending the information to all the principals and academic authorities of the schools of the state.

• 2020: 3092 students from 0 schools (0% of eligible schools)
• 2019: 6050 students from 0 schools (0% of eligible schools)
• 2018: 5230 students from 0 schools (0% of eligible schools)
• 2017: 5986 students from 0 schools (0% of eligible schools)

According to national statistics reported in 2019 for students enrolled in high school, we have:

4,166,750 students in 11,920 public schools

961,768 students in 5,803 private schools

In the states, the media are not involved in spreading the information related to the State Olympiad. The media, especially the newspapers, participates in broadcasting the results, only if the state students won any medal.

The press department of the Academia Mexicana de Ciencias sends an article to different newspapers before the National Olympiad takes place, informing the details of the Olympiad and another at the end of the Olympiad reporting the results.