More than 18.1 million students from around 54,000 schools from all regions of the country participate today (7) in the first phase of the 17th Brazilian Public School Mathematics Olympiad (Obmep), held by the Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics ( Impa). This is considered the largest scientific competition in the country and, in this edition, reaches 99.78% of Brazilian municipalities.
According to the rules and standards established by Impa, the tests will be applied during all school shifts and corrected by the schools, totaling 20 questions. The exam is prepared in three levels, according to the student’s level of education: Level 1 (6th and 7th years of elementary school), Level 2 (8th and 9th years of elementary school) and Level 3 (high school).
The Olympic regulations are available at site. Students classified in the first phase of Obmep will take the test of the second phase, on October 8th. In this second stage, the test consists of 6 discursive questions.
Classification
The general coordinator of Obmep and deputy director of Impa, Claudio Landim, celebrated the scope of the event. “It is incredible that we have 18 million students in the country taking a test that does not require knowledge of mathematics, but which proposes problems that require students’ creativity to solve. We hope, this year, to detect young people with ease and talent for mathematics and, later, train these students in Obmep programs”, said Landim.
The classification is made according to the highest scores obtained in the first phase test. Students are selected in descending order of grade until the total number of places available for each school, by level, is filled.
Educational institutions must send the answer cards of students classified for the second phase by the 20th of this month, through the 17th Obmep application (available at Google Play and the Apple Store) or by post. The ranking results for the second stage of the competition will be announced on August 2. The awards are scheduled to take place on December 20.
Obmep awards students from public and private schools separately. For public school students, 6,500 medals will be awarded, including 500 gold, 1,500 silver and 4,500 bronze, and up to 46,200 honorable mention certificates. Students from private institutions will receive 975 medals (75 gold, 225 silver and 675 bronze) and up to 5,700 honorable mention certificates.
Students awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal are invited to participate in the Scientific Initiation Program (PIC Jr.) as an incentive and promotion of academic development.
Obmep
Obmep was created by Impa in 2005 and its implementation has the support of the Brazilian Mathematics Society (SBM). The competition is promoted with resources from the Ministries of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) and Education (MEC). Aimed at students from the 6th year of elementary school to the 3rd year of high school, the Mathematics Olympiad helps to stimulate the study of the subject and identify young talents in the discipline, in addition to promoting social inclusion through the dissemination of knowledge.
According to the organization of the competition, the Olympiad also contributes to improving the quality of basic education, as it allows a greater number of Brazilian students to have access to quality teaching material.
The 16th Obmep, held last year, brought together 17.7 million participants and reached a record number of municipalities, reaching 99.84% of Brazilian cities.
