The trajectory of Bolsa Família beneficiaries in the OBMEP (Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad for Public Schools).

Students Rodrigo Gonçalves do Nascimento, from Capela do Alto (SP), and Geovana Rodrigues da Pascoa Souza, from Sobral (CE), are part of this group. According to data obtained by G1 from the MDS, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Ceará account for 576 of the 1,288 medals, or 45% of the total.

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Rodrigo, now 19 years old, participated in the Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad (OBMEP) six times, between the 7th grade of elementary school and the Tuesdays year of high school. He won medals every year – two gold and four silver. Geovana has two medals and an honorable mention from OBMEP.

"Mathematics is a subject I really enjoy; I've had a natural aptitude for it since I was little. I participated in the Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad (OBMEP) for the first time because the school enrolled everyone, even those who weren't interested. But I participated because I like it, and besides, I wanted to go to the Scientific Initiation Program (PIC)," says Rodrigo.

The PIC is a one-year course offered to Obmep medalists. They are challenged to answer logical reasoning exercises virtually and participate in monthly in-person meetings at hubs that bring together students from the same region.

Geovana Rodrigues da Pascoa Souza, de Sobral, com a medalha de ouro da Obmep — Foto: Arquivo pessoal

Geovana, who is now 15 years old, learned about the Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad (OBMEP) in 2015, when she was in the Fridays grade, thanks to her math teacher at the José Inacio Gomes Parente School, a public school in Sobral. The teacher formed a small study group among those interested in taking the exam, and in her first participation in the competition, Geovana earned an honorable mention. In 2016, after preparing throughout the year, she won the gold medal.

Both are beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família program. Geovana's father shares ownership of a small farm with his brother, and her mother works as a domestic worker. She has two older brothers who do not work.

Rodrigo's father is a caretaker, and his mother works as a cleaner. He has six siblings, but none of them were interested in studying. "My older sister sells lunch boxes, and my older brother is a locksmith."

1,288 medals accumulated

Rodrigo, Geovana, and the other 997 beneficiaries of the Bolsa Família program have accumulated a total of 1,288 medals: 93 gold, 234 silver, and 961 bronze. The students also received 465 honorable mentions during this period.

Levantamento do MDS encontrou 999 estudantes beneficiários do Bolsa Família que conquistaram 1.288 medalhas na Obmep desde 2011 — Foto: Roberta Jaworski/G1

Positive contact with mathematics

In an interview with G1, Artur Ávila, the Brazilian who received the Fields Medal in 2014, considered the "Nobel Prize of mathematics," stated that knowledge olympiads are not the ideal solution to the Brazilian educational problem, but says that they are "an extremely inexpensive 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 Geovana's case, along with the Obemp awards came an invitation to study on a full scholarship at a private school in Sobral. She is currently in the 9th grade at the Farias Brito Sobralense school and continues her preparation for the Olympiads. She even aspires to reach international competitions.

"I'm going to participate this year and I intend to participate for the next three years [until high school] because I've seen that the Olympiad can bring many benefits and positive changes to my life. Because of the Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad (OBMEP), many people are able to get into college and improve their academic training, and that's what I want for myself too," she says.

Geovana wants to continue studying and pursue a degree in mathematics-related fields.

"The Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad (OBMEP) has changed my life a lot. I won a full scholarship and made new friends with people who love math as much as I do. I am very grateful."

Future in programming

Rodrigo finished high school two years ago, and now he's studying on his own for the National High School Exam (Enem) to try and get into university. His dream is to study computer science and become a great programmer.

"I used to work in a shop, doing everything there, but I saved up enough money to support myself and I quit. Now I'm not working so I can dedicate myself to studying in the short time I have left before the ENEM exam."

For the teenager, the courses he took during the Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad (OBMEP) helped him to like mathematics even more. "It was really cool because I met a lot of people, and in the courses, everyone was interested in what I liked. I think OBMEP was very important in my life."

Foto de Rodrigo de 2013, quando ele estava no 9º ano e o professor de matemática Vanderlei Machado, da escola Marcílio Leite de Almeida, na cidade de Capela do Alto — Foto: Arquivo pessoal

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 Unified Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government, known as CadÚnico, and the database of medalists and honorable mentions from the Brazilian Mathematical Olympiad (OBMEP). According to IMPA (National Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics), 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. Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Ceará are the only states where more than 100 medals were won, and four other states received fewer than ten medals: Santa Catarina, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, and Rio Grande do Sul.

Mapa mostra a distribuição por estado das medalhas da Obmep conquistadas pelos beneficiários do Bolsa Família entre 2011 e 2017 — Foto: Fernanda Garrafiel/G1