Through this competition, the department aims to stimulate interest in mathematics and to show learners that the subject can be fun. Furthermore, it is hoped that it will help them improve their performance in the subject. Only learners performing at 50% and above in the subject were selected to participate. The competition, which is in its third year, starts at schools before going through three subsequent levels, cluster, district and ultimately, provincial finals. The top performers are selected in each round with eliminations occurring as it progresses.
In the second round (cluster level), the number of participants was whittled down to 3,500 learners. The learners were then cut down to 1,250 for the third round (district level) and only 300 made it to the fourth and final round (provincial), which was held over the two days. The competition focuses on conceptual knowledge, the application of knowledge in new situations, problem-solving, reasoning, communication and creative thinking. The questions are based on Grade 8-11 work and beyond.
The winners of each Grade received a range of prizes which included maths kits for their schools, smart phones, tablets, vouchers, power banks and cash vouchers. The winners were Mikael van Eschwege (Grade 8) from Grey College (Bloemfontein), Willem Botma (Grade 9) from Landboudal High School (Jacobsdal), Tana Lindokuhle (Grade 10) from Thabo Vuyo Secondary School (Rouxville) and Moosa Yaaseen (Grade 11) from Ficksburg High School.
The overall winner of the competition, Willem Christiaan Botma from Landboudal High School in Jacobsdal, took home a smart phone, two tablets, a power bank, a memory stick, an Oxford Maths Dictionary, a R2,000 shopping voucher, Maths kit for his school, a gold medal, a certificate and a floating trophy. He and his teacher were also awarded an all-expenses paid trip to Cape Town where they will also visit Table Mountain and Robben Island.
As part of their prize, the winners will get a chance to participate in the South African Mathematics Olympiad in 2019. The Olympiad’s first round will be in March, followed by the second round in May and the third round in July next year. The winners of the third round will be registered for the International Mathematics Olympiad which will be held at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom in July 2019.
