RIYADH: A total of 255 Saudi students finished their preparatory training this week, under the Mawhiba program, in the run-up to the upcoming international science contest.

The program, held under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and King Abdul Aziz and his Companions Foundation for Talent and Creativity (Mawhiba), seeks to train and nominate students for the 2016 Arabian Gulf Olympiad for Physics and Mathematics.

The event, according to Mawhiba, will be held in the Kingdom between March and April this year.

A source from Mawhiba said the Saudi team has also been selected for the winter event to represent the country at the Mathematics Olympiad and the International Physics and Chemistry Olympiad scheduled to take place abroad.

Speaking on the occasion, Abdulrahman Alqoizani, the head of Saudi Olympiads International, said that 169 elite students under training were boys and 86 girls.

“They underwent intensive training under some of the best Saudi and foreign experts. Their cooperation with the Ministry of Education yielded positive results by enabling the talented segment of the community to represent the Kingdom at the international competition for the top spots,” he said.

He said that students have been trained in algebra, geometry and a number of theories, in addition to chemistry and physics.

It may be noted here that six Saudi students won medals in the annual International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) held in South Korea between Dec. 2 to 12 last year.

The IJSO is an individual and collective competition in natural sciences and public education participated in by students who are 16 years of age or below.