22/11/2017

OBMEP 2017 announces the winners.

IMPA (Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics) announced this Wednesday (22) the winners of the Brazilian Mathematics Olympiad for Public Schools (OBMEP) 2017 on the competition's official website ( www.obmep.org.br ).

For the first time, the country's largest student competition included participants from 4,473 private schools.

OBMEP maintained the number of medals awarded to students from public schools from previous editions: 500 gold medals, 1,500 silver medals, and 4,506 bronze medals – due to ties – and 38,600 honorable mentions. Students from private schools will receive 76 gold medals, 227 silver medals, 682 bronze medals, and 5,700 honorable mentions.

The 13th edition of OBMEP broke a new record for participating schools (53,231), representing 99.6% of Brazilian municipalities. Of the 18.2 million students enrolled, 941,000 qualified for the second phase of the competition – 903,000 from public schools and 38,000 from private schools.

Teachers, schools, and municipal education departments also compete for awards, based on student performance. The OBMEP award ceremonies will be held in 2018, on a date to be determined.

About OBMEP

Aimed at students from the 6th grade of elementary school to the 3rd year of high school, OBMEP is organized by IMPA and promoted with resources from the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC) and the Ministry of Education (MEC), with the support of the Brazilian Mathematical Society (SBM).

The Olympiad is part of the calendar of activities for the 2017-2018 Brazilian Mathematics Biennium, which is sponsored by BNDES and supported by the Ministries of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications and Education. Created in 2005 by IMPA, OBMEP aims to stimulate the study of Mathematics, reveal talents – encouraging their entry into scientific and technological fields – and promote social inclusion through the dissemination of knowledge.

The effective impact of OBMEP on mathematics results in the country has been measured by independent studies. According to work by former INEP president Chico Soares, schools that actively participate in the competition show an improvement in student performance of 26 points on the Prova Brasil exam, equivalent to 1.5 years of extra schooling.