As I write this text, registration is opening for the 1st Junior Mathematics Olympiad, aimed at children from the 2nd to the 5th year of Elementary School, from 7 years of age. It is the realization of a strategic ambition of Impa (Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics), formulated as soon as we took over the direction of the institute, at the end of 2015.
The creation of Obmep (Brazilian Public School Mathematics Olympiad) by Impa in 2005 was enthusiastically received by the school community. With a forecast of 5 million subscribers, the first edition reached 10 million! Today, there are 18 million students from 55,000 schools in more than 99.8% of Brazilian municipalities.
Opposition from those who, due to ignorance or ideology, could not or did not want to accept the remarkable power of the Olympics to instigate curiosity and learning had to be overcome. Almost two decades later, Obmep’s credentials as a talent discoverer and catalyst for a fruitful relationship with mathematics are amply proven by several independent studies (check it out at www.obmep.org.br).
But Obmep also has a serious limitation: designed for students from the 6th grade onwards, it left out the initial cycle of basic education. Now, it is in the early years that the child’s relationship with discipline is shaped. Studies show that practically all children like math when they start school, but by the end of the 5th grade this percentage has already dropped by half.
According to Claudio Landim, national coordinator of Obmep and deputy director of Impa, “in the country, the bottleneck in teaching mathematics is located in the early school years and it is a challenge to develop thought-provoking questions for students who are still learning to read and write”.
It is this challenge that we now feel capable of facing, encouraged by the success of the partnership between Impa and the City of Rio de Janeiro in the launch of the Carioca Mathematics Olympiad. Through differentiated language, emphasizing playfulness and the relationship between mathematics and children’s experience, the Junior Olympics seeks to bring to younger children the proven benefits of the “grown-up” Olympics.
But students are not the only target: Mirim also aims to support teachers in the early years, many of whom have a complicated relationship with mathematics, opening new windows and offering materials for them to look at the subject with a new look.
Enrollment (initially restricted to public schools) is free. What are you waiting for to convince your children’s school to participate?
