30 students win top prizes at mental maths contest
30 youngsters from UAE win prizes at 23rd UCMAS International Competition in Malaysia
Thirty students from the UAE have won top awards at the recent 23rd UCMAS International Competition for mental maths held in Malaysia.
All the students, aged between 7 and 12, bagged prizes in the mental maths visual and listening competitions, categorised in eight levels.
Indian student Archita Pal, 9, won the championship in the visual category at the intermediate level, answering no less than 200 challenging math questions in just eight minutes. Her sister Asmita bagged the first runner-up award in the grand level category.
Another 9-year-old, Emirati girl Maha Omar Saleh Al Sarkal, finished third. The other 27 students also won first, second and third positions in various levels.
The UCMAS (Universal Concept of Mental Arithmetic System) contest saw 3,000 students from 40 countries participate in Selangor, Malaysia.
UCMAS is designed for children between six and 12 years old. The programme offers various levels in which students explore their speed accuracy, concentration and reasoning skills.
Originating in Malaysia, UCMAS was introduced in the UAE in 2003 and is now being taught in over 30 centres across the country. UCMAS is also taught in more than 80 countries.
V.G. Soundari Raj, managing director, UCMAS UAE, said: “This resounding win by UAE students reflects the high standard of education offered in the country. The fact that we won 30 out of just about 250 awards that were distributed among over 3,000 students goes to show the commitment of our students to give their best and emerge as winners.
“These ‘human calculators’ are the future of the UAE, and we are confident that through the UCMAS programme we are further honing their skills. I would like to offer my best wishes to all the participants.”