The National Graphical Programming Competition, established by the John von Neumann Computer Society in cooperation with the Faculty of Informatics at ELTE and held annually since 1998, will as of this year bear the name of Mihály Kovács (1916–2006), Hungary’s first secondary school computer science teacher and a Piarist monk.
The programming competition was founded under the name Logo Competition in the 1997–98 school year and has been organized annually by the Talent Management Department of the John von Neumann Computer Society in close cooperation with the Faculty of Informatics at ELTE. The competition is an integral part of the John von Neumann Computer Society’s ‘talent pyramid’: many of the students who develop an interest in algorithmic thinking here go on to compete in the Nemes Tihamér International Programming Competition—and the best of them represent Hungary at the International Olympiads in Informatics. The competition tests students’ knowledge in four age groups, from 3rd and 4th graders to those about to graduate, in programming languages such as Logo (Imagine environment), Python, Scratch, and Snap!.
The John von Neumann Computer Society has been jointly commemorating Mihály Kovács with the Hungarian Province of the Piarist Order for many years. Already in the 1958–59 school year, when the first Hungarian computer was introduced, Mihály Kovács organized a cybernetics study group—and from then on,
he was a pioneer in introducing computer science to the secondary school sector.
He made the new science, informatics, loved by his students through games and by encouraging creative, independent work; it is therefore very fitting that a graphical programming competition will bear his name.
‘The Mihály Kovács National Graphical Programming Competition will continue to be one of the most important elements of the John von Neumann Computer Society’s talent management programme. I am very pleased that, in addition to the National Talent Programme, DEF IT Informatikai Ltd and ALEF Distribution HU Ltd have also joined the sponsors. I am confident that the Piarist Order will also be our permanent ally in reaching out to new schools and contestants,’ Executive Director of the John von Neumann Computer Society Gábor Képes said at the award ceremony held at the Faculty of Informatics at ELTE on 23 May.
‘It is a great joy for the Piarist Order that a national competition now preserves the rich legacy of our former fellow monk. In Mihály Kovács’s life, the transmission of practical knowledge useful in everyday life to his students was in perfect harmony with his pastoral vocation.
The harmonious unity of faith and science helped him through the most difficult historical times,
always finding the opportunity to stimulate his students’ interest and help them understand and improve the world around us. I trust that the competition, now bearing his name, will inspire students to do the same,’ Provincial of the Hungarian Province of the Piarist Order Viktor Zsódi commented.
‘It is a great honour and a constantly inspiring challenge for ELTE to cooperate with the John von Neumann Computer Society on such a wide range of talent management initiatives. It has always been our goal to deploy the highest professional and teaching qualities of the Faculty of Informatics in the service of nurturing future talents. As the largest institution for computer science teacher training in Hungary, it is a special pleasure and pride for us that the competition will henceforth commemorate Mihály Kovács, a Piarist monk who earned his physics-mathematics teaching diploma at our predecessor, the Pázmány Péter University, in 1941,’ Dean of the Faculty of Informatics at ELTE Dr Tamás Kozsik added.
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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/John von Neumann Computer Society
