Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad   

Children showcase their math skills

-Photo: Nagara Gopal

Children participating in the national level competition for Abacus and mental arithmetic at St. Mary's College on Sunday.

HYDERABAD: It was a test of speed and ability to play with the mind-boggling numbers using mind-numbing calculations – finally resulting in accurate answers in a jiffy. Smartness and sharpness were two factors that every kid looked to be good at as they made difficult mathematical calculations look easy without the aid of a pen or pencil or a calculator. It was just the brain that worked.

The 1,500-odd children who competed at the Alama Abacus National-level competition for Abacus and Mental Arithmetic-2011 here on Sunday proved that human brain was much faster than the gadgets created by the man. Sample this – I am an odd number, you do not say me when you count by fives, I am greater than 92 but lesser than 97, who am I? While the parents who accompanied the kids scratched their heads most of the kids came out with the correct answer of 93 within the allotted 15 seconds. The children were tested in five different levels. Children aged between 5 and 7 years were tested in mental arithmetic. They were asked to solve 50 sums that included addition, subtraction, multiplication, square root, division using abacus. In the 8 to 13 years category 75 sums were to be solved in just five minutes. The complexity of sums changed depending on the category.

“Abacus is not just about simplifying mathematical calculations but also skill development,” says G. Muthukumar, Director of Alama International.The children, who came from all over the State and also from neighbouring States like Tamil Nadu were tested for their logical thinking and visualisation concepts . Two blind children from Devnar School for the Blind took part.

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