Both junior and senior level learners from the Free State and Northern Cape were selected to join the team that participated in the South African Mathematics Team Competition (SAMTC) on 13 and 14 September.
The olympiad, sponsored by the Actuarial Society of South African (Assa), is held annually.
The learners participated in Bloemfontein, competing online against teams from all over South Africa.
After 22 hours of intensive mathematics training over three weekends, learners from Gr.6 to Gr.12 from the Free State and the Northern Cape held their own amongst teams hailing from the rest of South Africa.
The SAMTC consisted firstly of an individual competition in which each of the team members answered a question paper on their own, followed by a team competition tasking the team of ten members to answer ten questions together, consulting each other to compile the final answers that they submit as a team.
The team members were trained for participation in the competitions by Hermina Oosthuizen and Marthinus Schoombie for the junior teams, and by Jon Smit for the senior team.
They also wrote tests before and during the actual competition, which determined their positions in the teams.
The Junior 1 team, consisting of learners in Gr.7, Gr.8 and Gr.9, finished in ninth place in its division out of 80 teams, with the Junior 2 team placing 26th.
The senior team, consisting of learners in Gr.10, Gr.11 and Gr.12, came sixth in the senior division out of 70 teams. This is an improvement from the previous year, when the team finished ninth.
According to Dr Elsie Schoombie all of these learners, along with their parents and schools, can feel proud of themselves.
“Their participation in these teams is on a par with obtaining provincial colours in sport – in addition to the benefit of being a lifelong skill.”
Learners who are interested in being trained for participating in a Mathematics olympiad, can contact Schoombie through WhatsApp on 082 926 6674.
The Living Maths Olympiad will be conducted in the fourth quarter – a fun and highly accessible introduction to taking part in Mathematics olympiads from Gr.R up to Gr.9.
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