Avinash Meetoo

Software is eating the world.

Quoting ACM:

The availability of qualified software engineers has not kept pace with the demand from industry, so that systems are designed and built by people with insufficient educational background or experience.

In other words, Software Engineering is Hard and we do not have enough Software Engineers to create and maintain all the software which is eating the world. The fundamental reason is that software is unlike all other kinds of engineering artifacts (such as a bridge, a house or a computer):

• Software is abstract and invisible.
• Software has both static and dynamic properties.
• Software is intrinsically complex in terms of its organization.
• No universal measures of quality exist for assessing a software product.

Furthermore,

• The manufacturing cycle for software products is not a significant element in software development, and it mainly involves the needs of distribution mechanisms.
• Software does not wear out.

Quoting ACM again,

• Software engineering practices are therefore largely concerned with managing relevant processes and with design activities.
• A high-quality faculty and staff is perhaps the single most critical element in the success of a Software Engieering program.

And they conclude,

• Faculty members who have a primarily theoretical computer science background might not adequately convey to students the engineering-oriented aspects of software engineering.
• Faculty members from related branches of engineering might deliver a software engineering program or course without a full appreciation of the computer science fundamentals that underlie so much of what software engineers do.
• Faculty members who have not experienced the development of large systems might not appreciate the importance of process, quality, and security.
• Faculty members who have made a research career out of pushing the frontiers of software development might not appreciate that students first need to be taught what they can use in practice.

In other words, faculty members who teach Software Engineering need to be Software Engineers themselves. And this is là où le bât blesse (the main problem) in most universities: those teaching cannot do! This is true abroad but also true in most (all?) universities in Mauritius.

Mauritius needs universities with teachers who are doers and who know how to make students become doers.

And this needs to happen now!

When I was a lecturer at the University of Mauritius in 2006, some colleagues and I selected, coached and accompanied students to the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest. Our first batch of students, whom I accompanied to IIT Kanpur in India, did honorably and the university participated until 2008 or 2009. Since then, Mauritius has not participated in this world-class programming contest.

We participated in the ACM ICPC for 3 or 4 times before quitting (and I am using this word in its strongest sense — Mauritius or, more precisely, the University of Mauritius, quit).

But I have also just realised that Mauritius has never participated in:

• the International Mathematical Olympiad
• the International Olympiads in Informatics
• the International Physics Olympiad
• the International Chemistry Olympiad
• or the International Biology Olympiad

International olympiads are intended for students at secondary schools all over the world.

The International Mathematical Olympiad

From the International Mathematical Olympiad website:

The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is the World Championship Mathematics Competition for High School students and is held annually in a different country. The first IMO was held in 1959 in Romania, with 7 countries participating. It has gradually expanded to over 100 countries from 5 continents.

100 countries… except Mauritius. For the nearly 60 years since IMO was created, our Government, institutions or teachers have never felt the need to participate in this international contest. In contrast:

• China started in 1985 and its students have won 138 gold medals, 30 silver medals and 6 bronze medals,
• the USA started in 1974 and its students have won 110, 108 and 29
• while the Russian Federation started in 1992 and has won 87, 48 and 9 such medals.

Some other countries include:

• India started in 1989 and has won 11 gold medals, 62 silver medals and 59 bronze medals,
• Singapore in 1988 and has won 11, 45 and 66 such medals,
• South Africa in 1992 and has won 1, 9 and 38 such medals,
• Trinidad and Tobago in 1991 and has won 2 silver medals and 5 bronze medals,
• and Ivory Coast in 2010 who has won 1 silver medal.

Some countries which have participated but not won any medal include Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

The International Olympiads in Informatics

Mauritian students have also never participated in the International Olympiads in Informatics since its creation in 1989. Countries which have participated and won include:

• China has won 72 gold medals, 23 silver medals and 12 bronze medals,
• Poland has won 34, 36 and 27 such medals,
• and Russia 52, 32 and 12 such medals.

Other notable countries include:

• Singapore has won 8 gold medals, 27 silver medals and 34 bronze medals,
• India has won 1, 11 and 27 such medals,
• and Bangladesh which has won 1 silver medal and 3 bronze medals.

and, as I wrote above, Mauritius has also never participated in the International Physics or Chemistry or Biology Olympiads.

What are we waiting for?

I have come to realise that people of Mauritius (including, most probably, me) exhibit a strange trait: we believe we are incredibly superior compared to others (our islanders’ mentality probably) while we are, at the same time, afraid to compete with others (probably because we are so far from other countries and because of our colonial past).

This has to change. Our best students need to participate in Maths, Informatics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology Olympiads.

Or else, how are they going to become world-class?

PS

Of course, I am not saying that our students are not good enough. As a matter of fact, this is untrue. Some of our students shine at international level (O Level and A Level). Participating in Olympiads would allow more of our students to shine and, most importantly, discover their talents. In the long run, the average level of all students is likely to rise. And this is precisely what we need in Mauritius to become Smart.