Beneficiary of Bolsa Família wins medal at OBMEP.
Thalita conquistou bronze na OBMEP 2018 – Foto: Laís Mendes/Arquivo pessoal
Reproduction from G1
Reporting by Victor Vidigal
A resident of the municipality of Laranjal do Jari, 295 kilometers from Macapá, 13-year-old student Thalita Pinheiro is one of the students benefiting from the Bolsa Família Program in Amapá who won medals in the Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools (OBMEP) in 2018.
Between 2011 and 2017, 34 students from the public school system in Amapá, who receive the benefit and have the same profile as Thalita, also won medals in the competition.
The family of the teenage girl from Amapá has been a beneficiary of the federal program for about a year. Thalita's father is unemployed, her mother works in general services, and she also lives with a 15-year-old sister.
The student, who also lives far from the school she attends, says that the federal funding was crucial in preventing financial problems from affecting her academic performance.
According to the Ministry of Social Development (MDS), in the last eight editions of the Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools (OBMEP), 999 students benefiting from the Bolsa Família Program were awarded 1,288 medals. Medalists also received 465 honorable mentions during that period.
The teenager, who participated in the Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad (OBMEP) for the first time in 2018, won a bronze medal in the 1Wednesdays edition of the competition, where her knowledge was challenged by students from all over Brazil. She represented the Raimunda Capiberibe Municipal School and had the fifth highest score in Amapá, among students in the Fridays and 7th grades of elementary school.
"It was at the end of the 2018 school year that the school principal announced it, and I was very happy and surprised. I already liked math before the test, but I never imagined I would win the medal," said the student, who was in Fridays grade at the time.
The preparation routine for the competition included classroom studies in the first phase of the exam. In the second phase, the school assembled a study group that intensified their studies throughout the week. The approximately 20 students who were part of the group had daily meetings, for two hours, where they solved mathematical problems.
Artur Ávila, the Brazilian who received the Fields Medal in 2014, considered the "Nobel Prize of mathematics," told G1 that knowledge olympiads are not the ideal solution to the Brazilian educational problem, but says that they are "an extremely cheap program with which you can get around these difficulties that exist in education in general."
According to him, one of the benefits is reaching "students often from underprivileged communities in places you wouldn't expect, due to the economic difficulties in Brazil," and offering them "a positive first contact with studying and with mathematics."
In addition to recognition from friends, family, and neighbors, Thalita received as a reward for her achievement participation in the Obemep's PIC (Scientific Initiation Program). The course lasts one year, during which the student solves arithmetic, geometry, and logical reasoning problems virtually, in addition to monthly in-person meetings with members from the same region.
Looking to the future
For the student's mother, Laís Mendes, 37, seeing her daughter pursue an education is something rewarding that makes her think about better days for her daughter and for the family.
Thalita, now in 7th grade, is more focused on her math studies, helps classmates with their exercises, and is already thinking about pursuing a degree in mathematics after finishing high school, which, according to her, is the area where she "found herself."
How the young people were found
According to G1 , the MDS (Ministry of Social Development) stated that it arrived at these 999 students through a series of cross-referencing of information. The databases cross-referenced were the Single Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government, known as CadÚnico, and the database of medalists and honorable mentions from the Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools (OBMEP).
In Amapá, G1 located the student through the local Obmep coordination. According to Impa, in the first phase of the Olympiad, in which more than 18 million students usually participate, registration is done by school and participation is optional, therefore there is no personal database of those registered.
"The methodology used to cross-reference the data took into account the student's name, date of birth, mother's name, and CPF (Brazilian taxpayer ID number)," the ministry explained.
Although most of the medals are bronze, the survey shows that 101 of these 999 students managed to win at least three medals in different editions of the Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad (OBMEP).
The distribution of young people reaches all states. At the request of G1 , the MDS listed the number of medals obtained in each state. In the ranking, Amapá came in 11th place among those that won the most medals in the period. At the top of the list is Minas Gerais, with 314 medals. The state that awarded the fewest medals was Santa Catarina (5).