Abacus contest brings best out of kids

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 6

One will be in cold sweat upon being asked to solve 200 sums in eight minutes. But for these young mathematicians, it is not a herculean task. Students from the entire state were awarded at the 11th Punjab and Chandigarh state-level Universal Concept of Mental Arithmetic (UCMAS) Abacus Mental Arithmetic Competition here on Sunday.

As many as 2,000 children from 70 different centres and private schools and GSSS Kadianwali (Jalandhar) participated from Punjab. Viraj Thapar of the KG Group category from Sarabha Nagar stood champion in the category. From the Advance Group category, Gursahib Singh of Dugri bagged the championship. Mannat Bindra from Jalandhar stood as the overall champion in master’s module.

In the competition, the child was given 200 questions to solve in less than eight minutes. The degree of accuracy in accordance with time was the basis to clear the test.

Simplicio Menezes, Business Head of UCMAS, India, said, “There are no god gifted brains. Every brain can do ‘n’ number of calculations in a short time. We use the ancient method of abacus calculation. The abacus is moved with finger moving technique. This is a concept of memory where numbers are converted to images through abacus. Mathematics is everywhere around us. The technique enhances one’s logical reasoning, memory and concentration. UCMAS is a cognitive skills development program using three learning styles namely, visual, auditory, and tactile. We teach children from four years to 13 years, as the period is crucial for the development of right side of the brain.”