Scotiabank, Brain Central successfully host mathematics Olympiad

The Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank), in collaboration with Brain Central, on Sunday hosted a mathematics Olympiad which was aimed at preparing students for their upcoming examinations.
The hour-long competition utilized Brain Central’s online course which consists of over fifty thousand test questions.
The preliminary round of the competition was held on Saturday, and was open to grades six and nine students. However, grade nine students failed to register for

the competition, and only grade six students participated. The participants were tested on basic curriculum which they should know in anticipation of their upcoming National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).
Based on the results garnered from the preliminary round on Saturday, four participants were selected to compete in the finals of the Olympiad on Sunday. The four students are all preparing to sit the NGSA examinations at the end of this month. The online quiz produced a series of random questions with which the students at the grade six exam level would be familiar.
The Brain Central software consists of over fifty thousand questions covering curriculum from primary to tertiary levels. The institution began its work at the tertiary level in 2006, and, over the years, has developed to serve primary and Caribbean Secondary Examination Council (CSEC) exams.
Work has also been completed for the University of West Indies Cave Hill Campus School of Business Master’s programme, and the University of Guyana, which attests to the software’s credibility. Speaking with the <<Guyana Times, Brain Central’s Chief Executive Officer, Lance Hinds, shared a little on what the course caters for. “We create quizzes that are timed, of course, so that kids can practise and are ready for exams,” he explained.
He also noted that Brain Central furnishes questions for as low as grade four, which can also prepare students for their grade four assessment, in addition to grade six.
Hinds shared the reason behind the initiative, “The thought behind this was to make it sporty, not only for you to just do work. The idea of this would be to partner with people like Scotiabank to be able to provide prizes to recognize you for your work.”
Scotiabank’s Marketing Manager, Jennifer Cipriani, noted that the company was elated to be a part of such an initiative, which would help to foster children’s education, especially in the difficult field of mathematics.
The competition was hosted at the University of Guyana’s Centre for Information Technology in order to utilize the resources there. The four eager participants were flocked by parents, grandparents and siblings who were present to offer support. The proceedings were adjudicated by an experienced team from Brain Central.
The participants were Daniel Singh, Haresh Rameshwar, Daniel Jacobs and the lone female being Hanifa Ali. Daniel Singh was deemed to have an advantage going in to Sunday’s competition, given that he came out on top at the preliminary round.
At the end of the competition, the scores were automatically tallied by computerized system and the winner was shortly announced. In the spirit of good competition, each participant was awarded one tablet, while the winner received an additional plaque, compliments of Scotiabank.
An enthusiastic Haresh Rameshwar came out on top of the competition, noting that he did not find the quiz difficult, and was proud of his performance. The confident young man expressed that the quiz acted as a good warm up for the upcoming exams, and that he wishes to attend Queen’s College in September.
Brain Central does not plan to stop its work, in fact, the entity has announced that it would also host an English version of the competition within the next few weeks, before the NGSA exam. The organization plans to broaden collaborations in order to continue hosting similar competitions.