Around 350-400 UCMAS students, from across Surrey, Richmond & Vancouver, participated in the record breaking, annual BC provincial, Mental Math competition last weekend, on Saturday, May 26.  UCMAS, a global leader in providing abacus-based mental math education, organized its 5th Provincial Abacus & Mental Arithmetic Competition at Newton Recreation Centre (Arena), Surrey.

The Competition hosted once, every year in British Columbia, seeks to provide a competitive arena for UCMAS students to excel in their respective category and be recognized for their excellence. The focused and targeted practice, UCMAS students undergo, towards preparation of the Competition, serves to further enhance their Abacus and Mental Math skills.

At the competition, which tests speed and accuracy in arithmetic, the UCMAS students, between 4- 13 years of age, have eight minutes to solve as many as 150-200 math questions depending on the students’ level, using only an abacus or mental math. “The math tests include numeric calculations of multiple rows & columns that require students to calculate at a rate faster than using a calculator” cited Rashmi Mehta, Senior Executive – Operations & Regional Moderator, UCMAS, BC, Canada.

“Starting with an Abacus and eventually progressing to Mental Math, our young “math magicians” learn to perform arithmetic calculations of up to several digits in their head, without relying on aids such as calculators or paper and pencil – a feat only possible in geniuses” remarked Ms. Mehta.

Being able to compete in this stringent competition, proves beyond doubt, the extraordinary mental math calculation capabilities of UCMAS students. “The UCMAS program develops learning skills that instill confidence in kids and allows them to exceed expectations in academics and beyond” specified Vandana Bhusary, Director, UCMAS, BC.

Besides the provincial results, the scores of the provincial participants will be simultaneously ranked with the tallies of the 13th UCMAS National Competition being held on June 3, 2018 at Mississauga, Ontario. On completion of the competition, a glittering award ceremony will be organized on 17th June 2018 at the North Delta Secondary Theatre, 8270, 114 Street, Delta BC V4C5J6. Dignitaries of great repute will attend the competition as well as award ceremony from various fields.

Established in 1993 at Malaysia, UCMAS today has spread its wings in 80 countries with 6000+ locations across the globe. As an integral part of its culture, UCMAS organizes International, National and Provincial-level competitions at a grand level every year.

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