The Philosophical Society of Bangladesh organized the first round of the Bangladesh Philosophy Olympiad 2024 on March 9, 2024, Saturday, at 10am at Heritage School, Narayanganj.
Students from schools and colleges in different cities in Bangladesh participated in this olympiad.
The format for this year's competition was different, and consisted of 40 multiple-choice questions on philosophy and one writing prompt. "I believe this format helped students showcase their philosophical knowledge, and helped us evaluate them in a fair way," said Usraat Fahmidah, who created this year's questions.
After evaluating, ten students have been selected for the next round. They are: Maliha Afrin Islam (Heritage School), Ayesha Amin Aoisharjo (Daffodil International School), Labib Abrar Islam (Heritage School), Sanjidul Abir (Adarsha School), Wasi Islam Aronno (ABC International School), Nusrat Jahan (Heritage School), Golam Morshed (ABC International School), Panhi Leelaboti (Sahajpath High School), Shah Md Wasif Islam (Narayanganj Ideal School), and Rifa Tasfia Raita Chowdhury (Mangrove International School).
“Participating in the BPO for nearly two years, I was surprised by the sudden format change, but while preparing for it I understood the importance of the format in challenging our basic philosophical knowledge. Despite being skeptical about my performance, I managed to achieve first place in the selection round, making it the most thrilling experience of my life,” shared Maliha Afrin Islam who ranked 1st in the selection round.
‘A subject our world is in dire need of’
Ayesha Amen Aoisharjo, who ranked 2nd in the competition, shared, “I am grateful to Bangladesh Philosophy Olympiad for providing us with the opportunity to participate in this Olympiad on Philosophy -- a subject our world is in dire need of.”
The International Philosophy Olympiad will be held in Helsinki, Finland from May 16-19 this year. Two students from this pool will be selected after the essay writing round to represent Bangladesh in Finland. The International round of the Olympiad requires the students to write a philosophical essay under four hours.
To prepare for this, Usraat Fahmidah, alumni organizer and former champion of Bangladesh Philosophy Olympiad who previously represented Bangladesh at the International Philosophy Olympiad and clinched the first ever and only title, will be guiding and training them.
“They are an extremely promising bunch. I am excited to be training them, and learning from these young talents,” shared Fahmidah.
The event held on Saturday, March 9, at Heritage School in Narayanganj was attended by Heritage School Principal Pratik Tarafdar, the school’s CEO Hasan Khan, Philosophy Olympiad Coordinator Mohammad Eleas Mahmud. Usraat Fahmidah was present as the special guest at the event.
The event had a special presentation by Tajwar Zaman Ayman and Sanjana Priyonti, participants in the International Philosophy Olympiad 2023. They shared their valuable experiences of participating in the Olympiad previously.
