12/06/2024

Folha: 'Two decades of the Mathematics Olympiad'

Foto: Ricardo Stuckert

Reproduction of Marcelo Viana's column in Folha de S. Paulo.

This Tuesday (11), Impa honors the 654 gold medalists of the 2023 Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools (OBMEP), in a ceremony in Rio de Janeiro with the participation of the President of the Republic.

Twenty years ago, IMPA (the Brazilian Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics) went to the Presidential Palace with the bold idea of creating a mathematics olympiad for public schools, an "olympiad for the poor," in the words of President Lula. His support overcame resistance and difficulties, making OBMEP (the Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools) one of the most important public policies for education and science in Brazil.

OBMEP was born big – with more than 10 million participants in its first edition in 2005 – and has never stopped growing. Today, with the addition in 2022 of the Children's Olympiad, aimed at children in the early years of schooling, it surpasses the mark of 23 million students, in practically all Brazilian municipalities.

Over these 20 years, the Olympiad has fostered a love of mathematics, discovered the most talented young people in Brazil, and brought life opportunities to every corner of this immense country.

Sandoel Vieira was born in Cocal dos Alves, a municipality of 5,600 inhabitants in the rural area of Piauí, which has one of the worst Human Development Indexes in the country. Medals in the Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad (OBMEP) opened doors for him to graduate from a federal university and, later, to postgraduate studies at IMPA (Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics). The first member of his family to receive an education, Sandoel is now a PhD in mathematics and is pursuing a brilliant career as a researcher and professor at the Federal University of Piauí.

For Renan Ferreirinha, a federal deputy and Municipal Secretary of Education for Rio de Janeiro, who also came from a humble family, the medals in the OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools) gave him access to a scholarship to attend Harvard University in the United States. Upon graduation, he chose to return and work for the cause of education in Brazil.

In 2019, Fantástico visited Cocal dos Alves, Sandoel's hometown, and found that all three doctors in the small municipality were natives and medalists in the OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools). Furthermore, they had funded their university studies with the scientific initiation grant that CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) awards to all OBMEP medalists.

This refers to Picme, one of several student and teacher training programs linked to the Olympiad, which also involves Capes.

Recent research by Iede (Interdisciplinarity and Evidence in the Educational Debate), with support from Impa and USP, found that participation in OBMEP is directly linked to improved performance in mathematics, not only among medalists but throughout the school: the average ENEM score in schools that won medals in the Olympiad is 516 points, while in other schools it drops to 488 points.

But OBMEP and IMPA don't stop, and in 2024 we have another reason to celebrate: the creation of the undergraduate course, IMPA Tech, which is another historic decision by President Lula and Mayor Eduardo Paes.

IMPA Tech is a degree program in mathematics of technology and innovation that combines knowledge of mathematics, computer science, data science, and physics to train highly skilled professionals capable of changing the world through mathematics.

Students are selected primarily from among OBMEP medalists and receive housing from the Rio de Janeiro City Hall and financial aid from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to cover their living expenses during the course.

To read the full text, visit the newspaper's website.