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Templeton PAMO Committee of Visitors Meeting,  Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Africa  •  November 5 – 10, 2007

The Pan African Mathematics Olympiad Committee of Visitors
(PAMOCOV)
John Templeton Foundation Grant ID#13034


PAMO Student Panel at QEM International Workshop, August 2006

The Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network has received a grant from the John Templeton Foundation to convene a Committee of Visitors (COV) to review the 2008 Pan African Mathematics Olympiad (PAMO) and its corresponding training symposium, organized by the African Mathematical Union (AMU). The training symposium, which precedes PAMO annually, prepares team leaders from participating African countries for the annual PAMO competition. This symposium, to be attended by the COV, will be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Africa on November 5-10, 2007. The COV also will visit Cairo, Egypt, on August 17-27, 2008, to observe PAMO 2008 and confer with the organizers and participants.

The tasks of the Pan African Mathematics Olympiad Committee of Visitors (PAMOCOV) are three-fold: 1) Inform the formation of a strategic programmatic vision at the Templeton Foundation to support mathematics education for gifted students in Africa; 2) Assess the organizational capacity of the AMU to develop the talent pool of students gifted in mathematics throughout Africa; and 3) Identify best practices that have transfer potential for use in the United States with underserved students gifted in mathematics. The primary audience of the PAMOCOV is the Templeton Foundation.  The secondary audience includes the AMU, mathematicians and mathematics educators in Africa and the United States, and others seeking information on effective strategies for identifying and nurturing talented mathematics students, particularly from underserved groups.

PAMOCOV is an outgrowth of the Templeton Foundation- and National Science Foundation-funded International Workshop: Setting a Collaborative Mathematics Education Research Agenda for Africa and the United States, held July 31–August 1, 2006, in Dakar, Senegal. (Click HERE for more information on the Dakar Conference and HERE to view the Executive Summary of the Agenda)  The first priority in the collaborative mathematics education research agenda formulated at the International Workshop was to identify and nurture mathematical talent. Responding directly to this priority, PAMOCOV will focus on examining the major effort in Africa that reaches gifted students in mathematics to nurture and develop their talent.

The changing demographics in Africa make the work of the PAMOCOV timely and significant. In several African countries, at least 50 percent of the population is under the age of 25. Education, especially in mathematics and science, will play a critical role in the future economic development of African nations. The findings of the PAMOCOV have potential for sustained impact by contributing to greater effectiveness of the AMU in reaching the best and the brightest young people in mathematics throughout Africa. The work of the PAMOCOV will provide independent, objective, and expert guidance in this effort.

If you would like more information about the Templeton PAMO Committee of Visitors grant, please feel free to contact Monica Mitchell at (mmitchell@qem.org) or Shirley McBay, at (smmcbay1@qem.org). Either also can be reached by telephone at 202/659-1818.

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About the John Templeton Foundation: The John Templeton Foundation was established in 1987 by renowned international investor, Sir John Templeton, to encourage a fresh appreciation of the critical importance — for all peoples and cultures — of the moral and spiritual dimensions of life. The John Templeton Foundation seeks to act as a critical catalyst for progress, especially by supporting studies which demonstrate the benefits of an open, humble and progressive approach to learning in these areas. It is the Foundation's purpose to stimulate a high standard of excellence in scholarly understanding which can serve to encourage further worldwide explorations of the moral and spiritual dimensions of the Universe and of the human potential within its ultimate purpose. ... From research on the neuroscience of creativity and intelligence to a first-ever bibliography on the benefits of accelerated programs for highly gifted young people, this emerging area of the Foundation focuses on a set of initiatives to communicate the nature, development, and benefits of scientific genius and creativity.... The Foundation currently funds more than 300 projects, studies, award programs and publications worldwide.