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In Bangladesh, students are gradually getting into the Olympiad culture, whether for their thirst for knowledge or to upskill their communications and prepare them for education abroad.
There are Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad, Bangladesh Physics Olympiad, and Bangladesh Biology Olympiad, and through them, top applicants go to International stages, representing Bangladesh.
People should be more enthusiastic about the culture because these students upscale Bangladesh in front of the world from a very early age.
One of those meritorious students is Naimul Islam, who aced HSC from Notre Dame College, Dhaka, earlier this year. He has been in the top 3 per cent of the global finalists of the United States Medicine and Disease Olympiad 2022, which will be known as the Gold Award this year. He has also achieved Silver in the International Medicine Olympiad. In addition, he was among the top 50 finalists of the International Climate Science Olympiad 2021.
In a conversation with this writer, Naimul shared his experience of olympiads and discussed the environment of the culture as the International Psychology Olympiad, the International Medicine Olympiad, and the International Political Science Olympiad are knocking at the door.
Naimul has been involved in several Olympiads since 2019. He participated in the Bangladesh Biology Olympiad, the Bangladesh Mathematical Olympiad, Medicine Olympiads, etc.
Due to his underprivileged background and lack of mentors, Naimul faced difficulties in participating in different Olympiads. As he was from the countryside, participating in National Olympiads in Dhaka was challenging after acing Regional rounds.
He explained how students face problems in the NCTB curriculum and the concern every guardian puts on the students. As parents often focus on studying the curriculum more and more without diving into different books, students do not feel enthusiastic about the Olympiads.
"Olympiads are organised to explore different ways, and to think out of the box," Naimul said about Olympiads' importance.
When asked about Bangladesh's environment of Olympiads, he shed light on the competitive nature of our society, especially when the Olympiads are for diving into the depth of knowledge of an individual's interest.
In addition, our teachers, educational institutions, and society are yet to be prepared for this culture to achieve something great. Even the teachers suggest only studying the syllabus of the curriculum.
However, Naimul's family, especially his mother, supported him in exploring the depth of knowledge and participating in the Olympiads.
Naimul also talked about financial constraints, as Olympiads require buying many books. Also, most of the national olympiads have registration fees. The Govt does not provide any funds for the olympiads, and that is a limitation Bangladesh faces, unlike abroad.
"For the sake of our future, we have to nurture our youths and develop the olympiad culture," Naimul thinks.
Naimul is passionate about life science and particularly biology and medicine Olympiads.
"If I could go back in time, I'd try for different Olympiads but I'd involve myself more in life science-related Olympiads because the nature, trees, and the roots always attract me," he said.
He suggests students participate in as many olympiads as possible to figure out their interests and passion to dive deep into their fields.
For Medicine Olympiad preparation, Naimul suggests diving into the academic books at first. Then come Campbell Biology (especially for the United States Medicine and Disease Olympiad), First Aid for the USMLE Step 1, and Fundamentals of Pathology for the International Medicine Olympiad. Robbins' Pathologic Basis of Disease can be an option too.
Regarding resources and connectivity, Naimul suggests students look into Olympiad pages and websites. They can utilise Google and Official Facebook Pages to get the proper resources.
Olympiads should be encouraged to let the students learn a great deal before entering higher education. In Naimul's words, "For the sake of the development of our country, it is necessary."
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