DUSHANBE, July 11, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- Four Tajik schools students will Tajik school students will participate in the 40th International Chemistry Olympiad that is held in Budapest, Hungary from July 14 to July 18, Shokirjon Gadoyev, director of the Republican Center for Gifted Children, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.  

According to him, Khursand Yorov from the Dushanbe-based Tajik-Russian gymnasium, Hotam&PV, Umed Qodirov from Isfara gymnasium # 1, and Temour Ashirov and Parviz Hakimov from the Dushanbe-base Tajik-Turkish lyceum named after Hoji Kamol have been selected to be members of the Tajik team.        

They are among the top chemistry students in the country, Gadoyev said.  “We hope they will participate successfully in the Olympiad,” he said.     

Gadoyev noted that Abdufattoh Hotamov, principal of the Hotam&PV gymnasium, accompanies the students.  

The International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) originated with Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary in 1968.  Soon, other Eastern European countries joined the event, and Western Europe began participating in 1974.

The first IChO was held in Prague in 1968.   The event has been held every year since then, with the exception of 1971.  The delegations that attended the first events were mostly countries of the former Eastern bloc and it was not until 1980, the 12th annual International Chemistry Olympiad, that the event was held in Austria. 

Each delegation consists of up to four students and two mentors (one of them is designated as the head of the delegation or "head mentor"). A delegation may also include a handful of guests and scientific observers. Students must be under the age of 20 and must not be enrolled as regular students in any post-secondary education institution. The International Information Center of the International Chemistry Olympiad is based in Bratislava, Slovakia.