First Math Olympiad sees robust competition

Students from Grades Six and Nine, from several schools in Region Four tested their knowledge of Mathematics as they competed in the inaugural Math Olympiad created by the Brain Central (BC), an online educational portal.

The two-day (February 3-4) collaborative initiative between BC and Scotiabank saw 45 students, going online and simultaneously take two (2) timed quizzes, consisting of 40 questions set to be completed within 50 minutes. Lance Hinds, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), BC, told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that the implementation of such an initiative aims to help the students prepare for their examinations. Hinds noted that the participants answered the question in “exam-like conditions” on both days “and based on their results, they will receive prizes.” The event held at the University of Guyana’s (UG) Information Communication Center, quickly dwindled down to six participants, as opposed to the anticipated five finalists. This was due to a tie for fourth place.

Haresh Rameshwar was adjudged the winner while Daniel Singh, Daniel Jacobs, Hanifa Ali were the runnersup. They were all awarded tablets.

Responding to inquiries regarding those participants, who did not attend the second and final round of the examination, Hinds opined that, “these things happen, sometimes they may have felt little jitters, nervousness or they may not have liked taking live rounds.” The CEO said following the conclusion of the competition his team will conduct a postmortem and analyse each step taken during the event. This review will also include the advertisement of the competition using Facebook. The CEO noted that based on the conclusion, decisions will be made on whether there is a need for any adjustments to be made going forward. Jennifer Cipriani, Marketing Manager, Scotiabank, said that sponsoring the initiative is “a great fit” for her organisation, as it aims to become more technologically-ready in its services. “We are a bank that is striving in technology and banking. And since technology is the future for all, we can also use it to teach our children. So we can promote technology among our future customers who are those children that are competing right now, that will help us as a bank,” Cipriani said. Additionally, Hinds said that his organisation also plans to launch an English language competition similar to the Math Olympiad.

(Kaieteur News)