Pathanamthitta lad qualifies for international math fete

Kochi: A boy from a remote village in Pathanamthitta who couldn’t attend special coaching camp as he was not provided with free accommodation, has qualified the Indian National Mathematical Olympiad (INMO) and selected for participation in the International Mathematical Olympiad training camp, the first one from the state to achieve the feat after a decade.

Adwaith H Sivam, a Class XI boarding student of St Antonys Public School, Anakkal, Kanjirapally, has qualified the INMO exam held on January 15 last at CUSAT (Cochin University of Science and Technology) campus. He will now vie for a place in the Indian team which will compete in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) to be held in Brazil in July 2017.

“Past trends point towards students from the state struggling at the tough Mathematics Olympiad, a problem solving competition originating at the regional level and ends up in a world championship. No student from the state was selected for the IMO camp for the last over 10 years,” said Ambat Vijayakumar, Regional Coordinator, INMO, said.

His selection came as a pleasant surprise for people like Vijayakumar. “He was among the 35 students shortlisted for attending a special coaching class taken by experts like professors of the Indian Institute of Science two weeks before the exam date. However, he was the only one to miss the camp since we could not afford accommodation to the participants. And when the results are out, he is the only one who made it big,” Vijayakumar said.

Career wise, Adwaith now need not have to appear in entrance examinations of national institutes like Indian Statistics Institute or the Chennai Maths Institute upon his completed Plus two.

“He loved problem solving and pure mathematics from a young age itself. We’ve not given him any coaching so far but he is an avid reader which explains for his feat,” said Harish Kumar S, Adwaith’s father, an Overseer with the Pandalam Municipality. His mother Beetha Mol is the Headmistress of Paruva Govt  Lower Primary School, Ranni.