Filipino students bag 143 awards in World Math Tournament

The Manila Times

Filipino students bag 143 awards in World Math Tournament  Filipino students bagged 143 awards in the 11th World Mathematics Invitational, an international tournament held in South Korea from July 14 to 18, 2023. Asia MathSci League President Rechilda Villame said that despite this feat, learning poverty in the Philippines is still a serious problem.   VIDEO AND INTERVIEW BY EZRAH RAYA  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net  Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion  Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital  Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  #TheManilaTimes #DailyNews #Math #Students #Philippines #Representatives #WorldMathTournament #SouthKorea #AsiaMathSciLeague #Asia

Transcript

00:00 I'm Esra Raya and this is the Manila Times.

00:03 Although several would claim that the Philippines is having an educational crisis, with the

00:08 learning poverty at an all-time high, Pinoy grade schoolers have proven to be some of

00:14 the best in the world when it comes to math.

00:18 Filipino math wizards bagged over a hundred medals and awards in the 11th World Mathematics

00:24 Invitational, a tournament held in South Korea last July 14-18.

00:31 Led by the Asia Math Sci League, students from the 1st to 12th grades from across the

00:36 country competed in the event and bested students from other countries.

00:42 Here with us is President of the Asia Math Sci League, Richilda Villame.

00:47 Welcome to the Manila Times, ma'am.

00:49 Filipino students got 143 awards, including Star of the World awardee Mateo Inigo Esposia,

00:58 a 6th grader who got the highest score in the country.

01:02 Aside from that, legend awardees diamond, gold, silver, and bronze awards, among others.

01:09 Ma'am, tell us about your experience in the World Mathematics Invitational.

01:15 It was quite tiring because it was fast, but at the end, we were all happy because of the

01:23 result.

01:24 So, initially, even how we secured the visa, it was quite difficult because it was quite

01:32 a number that we are going to bring out and bring to Korea.

01:36 But the experience of the children, of these kids, that was very satisfying.

01:45 Ma'am, tell us about the World Mathematics Invitational.

01:51 I understand this is not the first time that the Philippines has competed in this international

01:56 mathematical competition.

01:57 There had been previous winnings from years before, even before the pandemic, ma'am.

02:04 So is this a regular thing that you do and how is the Philippines faring in these competitions?

02:12 We used to participate in this, we call this WMI.

02:17 And the Philippines is always doing well, actually.

02:24 Like for this year, we have two legend awardees.

02:26 The legend awardees means they got gold for three consecutive years.

02:33 So we have a number already of gold awardees and comparing with some other countries.

02:41 We have a good record.

02:46 So yes, for the WMI, we first have the preliminary conducted in the country, that will be online.

02:57 And then from there, we select the finalists that will attend the tournament abroad.

03:02 Ma'am, I understand we sent 139 participants, students from different schools from across

03:12 the Philippines to be in this competition.

03:15 And in this competition, the WMI has over 1,500 students also from different countries,

03:23 Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, and Australia.

03:27 And I understand they don't rank by country.

03:31 So they only rank the individual students, ma'am.

03:35 So tell us more about your experience, ma'am.

03:38 How was it?

03:39 Was it difficult for our students?

03:40 Was it a piece of cake?

03:42 Were they intimidated by being faced by all of these other math wizards from other countries?

03:49 Actually, the students, when they went out of the competition room, everybody was saying

03:56 it was so difficult.

03:57 The test was so difficult.

03:59 So for a time, we were worried that our contestants may not do well because they found it difficult.

04:07 So of course, especially for the first timers, they cannot compare a world, an international

04:16 math contest to an ordinary test in the classroom.

04:20 Although they are prepared for this.

04:23 Maybe some were also surprised of how challenging the contest was.

04:31 But because they are prepared, they actually came prepared, then they did well.

04:38 So if they found it difficult, the other countries found it difficult too.

04:44 Mom, I understand the Asia Math Sci League Incorporated is the one preparing our students

04:51 for this international competition.

04:53 So how do you prepare them for this level of tournament?

04:58 Okay, for WMIS, it is the Asian Math Sci League that prepares our students.

05:04 So first, we invite students all around the country, all schools to join our training.

05:13 So this will be training for 10 meetings, 10 Saturdays, normally, three hours per meeting

05:21 for a total of 30 hours.

05:23 Now after the 10 sessions, then we rank them.

05:27 We choose the top 20% and invite them again to train for another 30 hours, 10 sessions.

05:36 And then from that second part, second part of the training is more intensive, preparing

05:43 them really for international contests like WMI.

05:50 Mom, which schools are these students from who compete internationally, right?

05:56 And they've won awards for the Philippines.

05:59 So which schools?

06:03 So I can name some schools, there are actually 16.

06:07 So from Cebu, we have Ateneo de Cebu.

06:12 We have also Ateneo in Manila, junior high school and grade school.

06:16 We have De La Salle Lipa.

06:20 We have Pasig Catholic College.

06:22 We have Grace Christian College.

06:25 We also have Genesis Christian Academy and we have public schools.

06:29 I can't help but notice that the schools that you've mentioned where our competitors came

06:36 from, some of them are from exclusive schools, privileged schools, and some of them from

06:42 public schools as well.

06:44 So talent really is everywhere for the Philippines.

06:48 May I ask, ma'am, how do you select the contestants?

06:51 So how do you reach out to them?

06:53 Or how does this go?

06:56 How do you go about this?

06:57 How do you select?

06:58 How do you find these math wizards from all over the country?

07:01 So we invite them through the heads of the schools or through the superintendents.

07:09 So we send letters to different divisions and to different private schools because normally

07:17 it is the school superintendent that give this information to the public schools and

07:24 then for the private schools, the heads of the schools.

07:27 So we send invitation for them to train, to try.

07:31 And because this is also a measure of the standard of mathematics in their respective

07:38 schools.

07:39 Mom, you know, some would even claim that the Philippines is having an educational crisis

07:46 and a learning poverty, but here you are excelling, not just here in the Philippines, but abroad.

07:53 So what can you say about the Philippines' current learning poverty, mom?

08:00 This is quite a problem, actually.

08:04 This is a very small percentage of students that are doing well.

08:09 So if you will get the percentage of those students winning internationally with all

08:16 the students of the country, that is very, very small.

08:19 So what is the organization doing?

08:21 We know that the students depends upon their teachers in their respective schools.

08:30 So what we do in the organization is we train math teachers, we train teachers, and then

08:36 we invite them to join us in training the good students so that when they go back to

08:43 their school, to their respective schools, they have improved their skill.

08:48 I used to teach teachers in the graduate school, and I realized that there are those really

08:55 teachers who are not that ready to teach mathematics in their respective schools, because there

09:02 are those schools who do not have enough math majors, like a PE teacher, for example, will

09:10 be teaching math.

09:13 These are some problems before.

09:15 And then the problems compounded because of the pandemic.

09:20 When the students stayed at home, then when they came back after two years, there was

09:28 a big lag, actually.

09:31 So yes, we are doing good, but it does not speak of the whole population of the country.

09:40 So what we are doing is we hope that we can expand by training more and more teachers.

09:47 Mom, like you said, you agree that there is actually a learning poverty in the Philippines,

09:53 and there is a gap between students who are not learning enough and those students who

09:59 are doing really, really well in international competitions and tournaments even.

10:06 And also, you mentioned that the pandemic has really left a dent on our educational

10:12 sector and has left a lot of students behind.

10:15 So aside from your organization training more teachers to teach math in their schools, respective

10:23 schools, what else do you think can we do in the education sector to bridge this gap,

10:30 to somehow solve the learning poverty, mom?

10:33 This is really a huge, huge problem, and this is really a problem of the Department of Education,

10:40 right?

10:41 So as a private organization, what we can do only is to assist the Department of Education

10:49 in the training of their teachers, because we think that the teachers play a very, very

10:58 important role in the education of the students.

11:02 No matter how good your program is, no matter how good your curriculum is, if the teacher

11:09 is not implementing it well, the students will not learn.

11:15 For those parents who would also like for their children to do well in math, so what

11:21 is your advice for those students who would love to be part of international competitions

11:26 such as where you've been?

11:28 Okay, my advice is first, know your children's interests, because let us admit it, there

11:36 are those parents who would want their children to be like this, but it is not their interest,

11:40 and therefore it will be a traumatic experience for them.

11:45 So if they notice that their children have the interest and the skill, like if their

11:51 child, for example, is so very fond of solving puzzles, then that is a hint that the child

11:58 will be interested in math and in problems.

12:01 So for the parents, I suggest you do not force your children to do math if they are not interested,

12:11 but if you see that there are skills, then find a good training program for them so that

12:18 they will be improved.

12:20 Thank you so much, Aisha MathSciLeague Inc. President, Maam Ruchilda Williami.

12:27 Thank you so much for your time, Maam.

12:28 Thank you too.

12:29 Thank you.

12:38 [End of Audio]

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