21/10/2024

The second phase of the 19th OBMEP is highlighted in the press.

The holding of the 2nd phase of the 19th OBMEP gained space in several media outlets last week. O Globo , G1, Agência Brasil , TV Brasil , CNN and O Povo were some of the media outlets that reported on the holding of the test, which took place this Saturday (19) and brought together more than 900 thousand students from all over Brazil.

The G1 news portal gave visibility to the city of Cocal do Alves, a municipality in the interior of Piauí, with less than 7,000 inhabitants, which won 299 medals in the OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools) in 18 years. The report by Sthefany Prado and Andrê Nascimento highlighted not only the holding of another edition of the scientific competition but also told the story of Rickelmy de Brito Pereira, 23, a student who won a scholarship and graduated in Mathematics. Afterwards, he returned to the same school where he studied, but this time as a teacher.

“After winning a medal, I was able to get a scholarship at UFDPar where I pursued a degree in mathematics. This scholarship greatly contributed to my staying at the university. I recently completed the course and had the opportunity to return to the school that provided me with all of this. Now, as a mathematics teacher and colleague of my elementary and high school teachers,” said the city's new teacher, who also teaches classes to prepare for the Olympiad.

TV Brasil also took advantage of the competition to highlight the story of an OBMEP medalist. Wesley Felix, 17, participating in the Olympiad for the last time, recounted how the scientific competition changed his relationship with the subject. “It all started in sixth grade, when I took the OBMEP for the first time. I didn't even really know much about the Olympiad. I participated, won bronze, and ended up falling in love with mathematics. I saw something more challenging in the Olympiad and started studying,” said the student, who is in his third year of high school.

The article further emphasized the benefits offered to medalists, such as the opportunity to enter public universities through "Olympic entrance exams." In a TV interview, Jorge Vitório, deputy director of IMPA and general coordinator of OBMEP, took the opportunity to highlight the IMPA Tech selection process, which prioritizes students with good performance in scientific competitions. "IMPA Tech, for example, reserves 80% of its places for students from knowledge olympiads. Annually, the undergraduate program offers 100 places, all with scholarships, but 80% are for medalists, not only from OBMEP, but from some other olympiads as well."

The newspaper O Globo mentioned the offer of the PIC (Scientific Initiation Program) to medal-winning students. “Students who win national medals are invited to participate in the Junior Scientific Initiation Program, which provides, through in-person or virtual meetings, contact with deeper mathematical content, expanding scientific knowledge and preparing the student for future professional and academic performance. Students from public schools, in addition to classes, receive an incentive grant of R$ 300 to participate in the program.”

Promoted by IMPA, OBMEP is held in two phases. The first stage, held on June 4th, brought together 18.5 million students from public and private schools across all regions of the country. This edition reached a record 56,516 participating institutions and an incredible 5,564 cities – 99.9% of Brazilian municipalities.

The Olympiad awards 8,450 national medals. Of these, 650 are gold, 1,950 are silver, and 5,850 are bronze, in addition to 50,000 honorable mentions. The OBMEP also distributes another 20,500 state medals.