'The Olympiad awakens the pleasure in studying mathematics'

On the eve of the second and final phase of OBMEP, to be held this Saturday (16), Claudio Landim, general coordinator of the competition, highlighted that the largest scientific olympiad in the country is for all Brazilian students from the 6th year of Elementary School to the 3rd year of High School. In an interview with the program Conversa Séria, from Empresa Brasileira de Comunicação (EBC), he also observed that, in addition to the tests, OBMEP includes initiatives that have sparked students' interest in mathematics.

“The Olympiad isn't concerned with the top students. Many people have the impression that, being an Olympiad, it's aimed at the best students, but they forget that it has several other initiatives aimed at all students, whether they have gaps in their knowledge or want to deepen their understanding of mathematics,” declared Claudio this Wednesday, adding that several students who have already participated in the competition didn't perform well in the subject and, after the test, became interested in it. “It awakens, in many students, the pleasure of studying mathematics.”

Claudio, who is the deputy director of IMPA, noted that the 6,500 medalists of the Olympiad receive a CNPq scholarship worth R$ 100 and the right to participate in face-to-face classes at federal universities and institutes with university professors and undergraduate students in mathematics.

“It’s a first contact with federal institutions and universities. It encourages these students to continue their studies, opens new job and teaching prospects for these students from public schools, and, as a result, many of them end up entering university,” said Claudio, explaining that, given the concern with the dissemination of mathematics, OBMEP created the Mathematics Portal, which includes videos, handouts, running exercises, tests, and applications with all the content from the 6th grade of elementary school to the 3rd year of high school.

This year, for the first time, the competition was also open to students from private schools. Of the 941,594 who passed to the second phase, 903,719 are from public schools and 37,875 from private schools.

Created in 2005, OBMEP is an initiative of IMPA (Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics), with support from the Brazilian Mathematical Society (SBM) and resources from the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC) and the Ministry of Education (MEC).

Check out the full interview .