Another achievement has been added to our history, as our students, Happy David and Kaneza Amandine, alongside two other students, represented the country at the 38th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI 2026), held at the Central Asian Expo in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from August 9 to 16, 2026.
IOI is the world's most prestigious competitive programming event for secondary school students, and this year's edition brought together 386 contestants from 97 countries. Over two intense competition days, students faced three demanding algorithmic tasks per day with five hours each day to design, code, and test their solutions. For our students to stand among this global field of the world's brightest young programmers is itself a remarkable achievement for Rwanda.
Getting there was no small feat. Our students' journey to Tashkent began nearly a year earlier, in November 2025, when they sat the School Selection Test administered by the Rwanda Computing Olympiad, an exam designed to identify Rwanda's most promising problem-solvers from among high school students nationwide. Those who stood out were invited to National Training Camps between December 2025 and early 2026, where they sharpened their algorithmic thinking, deepened their understanding of data structures, and built the advanced programming foundations needed to compete at the highest level. Their preparation was further tested at the Pan-African Informatics Olympiad (PAIO 2026), hosted live in Kigali, which served as a major benchmark of their growing skill against peers from across the continent. Through consistent, strong performance across each of these stages, Happy David, and Kaneza Amandine ultimately earned their place on Team Rwanda, securing the right to carry the country's flag at IOI 2026.
After boarding the flight to Tashkent, our students were determined to learn from fellow programmers from around the world to broaden their knowledge and skills. In their own words: "One memorable moment was meeting Team Singapore on the bus while travelling to the competition venue. That was when we began realizing just how international IOI was. We were impressed by how intelligent, enthusiastic, and friendly they were. We talked about programming, competitions, our countries, and many other things. Before long, many of the people we had just met had become our friends."
The opening ceremony set an electric tone, but once the competition began, the mood shifted to quiet focus and determination. After Day 1, our students' scores were not as high as they had hoped, a disappointing result after months of preparation, yet they took it in stride, recognising it as a lesson and a reminder of how much more there was still to learn. Day 2 brought a turnaround. Armed with a clearer plan and renewed determination, the team pushed forward, with one student in particular delivering a much stronger performance, a reminder that in competitive programming, as in life, One’s fate can shift quickly.
Their experience is meant to enlighten everyone and ensure that we continue to take our flag to more national stages. Their participation proves that Rwanda Coding Academy is not isolated from the global programming community. So, next up, why not you?