Hi guys, this will be quite a long message, but it's important. ZCO is the Zonal Computing Olympiad, it's the regionals for IOI in India.

A month ago I started competitive programming as I was highly interested in competing for the IOI, I've been programming for a long time and wanted to explore this field of competitive programming. I went to my country's participation page and over there they didn't mention anything about diploma students.

A polytechnic diploma is a post-secondary (after 10th grade) course, in which students are taught about specific engineering topics with a hands-on approach instead of teaching the standard subjects like a normal school. It is recognized by the government and is an official course in the country.

So I emailed them regarding how to register as diploma students, and they told me that we can't because they had a "policy for a long time". I tried to tell them that I am eligible according to the IOI rules, (will be under 20 years of age, I am 17, before the competition, and am studying in a school). But they didn't listen.

I think I am eligible because the rule says "regardless of the board and school they are studying in.", what do you have to say about this? I stopped doing CP when they told me they won't let me participate, but after seeing this year's IOI starting soon, I really want to try again. Should I pursue them further or not? Is it right to disallow participation just because I took a non-standard, but totally valid and recognized path of education?

Please contact socho if you are in a similar situation, more details in his comment below.