Kochi girl tops in Maths Olympiad

Kochi: For S. Shreya, a Class XI student of a Kochi-based school, it was her love for the subject which made her take another shot at the Regional Mathematical Olympiad and bag top rank in the tough problem solving competition. Also for the first time in the history of the regional level competition, a government school student made it into the toppers list. Allan Joseph, a student of Government Model Higher Secondary School, Cheeral, Wayand, surprised many by emerging as the third rank holder of the competition.

‘Usually the top slots are achieved by those children who get specific training for competitive exams like GMAT. However Allen’s achievement is the first such by a Government School student in the history of Maths Olympiad in the region,” said A Vijayakumar, Regional Co-ordinator, Indian National Mathematical Olympiad. “Tests like Mathematical Olympiad assess one’s ability to apply the laid down theories. I didn’t prepare for the exam solely but my genuine interest in the subject saw me through the exam. Here the key is solving as many practical questions as one can before the exam,” said a beaming Shreya, a student of Saraswathi Vidyanikethan Public School, Elamakkara.

Adwaith H Sivam, a student of St Antony’s Public School, Anakkal, Kottayam, bagged the second rank in the examination held by the National Board for Higher Mathematics on October nine. “What helped me crack the examination is the training provided under the NuMats (Nurturing Mathematical Talents in Schools) programme being implemented by the State Council for Educational Research and Training,” Allen said.