India’s Unprecedented Success in Maths Olympiad: An Unsung Story

India’s exceptional achievement in the International Math Olympiad 2024, with four gold and one silver medal, receives little recognition in a country obsessed with cricket and films.

India’s brilliant performance in the International Math Olympiad 2024, winning four golds and one silver, remains overshadowed by the nation’s focus on cricket and films.

Indians who love cricket and films to the extent of madness hardly remember the great personalities of other fields.

The lack of glamour in those fields unlike cricket and films is probably a big reason.

Due to this attitude, we did not pay a heed to or praise India’s unprecedented achievement in the International Math Olympiad, held in England one and a half months ago. Indian television channels, which decide the priority of programs according to TRP, also completely ignored the tremendous success of Indian children in the International Olympiad.

Perhaps these channels acquire more TRP by making four leaders sit together and quarrel.

I didn’t find any prime TV channel running a 30-minute story by bringing these talented children together on a stage.

Being in the profession of teaching myself, most of the time there is a group of teachers around me, but I realized that hardly anyone knows about the tremendous success of Indian children in the International Math Olympiad (IMO) 2024. It’s very painful! Let us discuss about those brilliant children in this column.

Six-member team of Indian students represented India at the International Mathematics Olympiad 2024. The team clocked four gold and one silver medal at the event which was held in Bath, United Kingdom in July, 2024. India ranked 4th out of 108 participating countries.

The team India consisted of six boys all from different states across the country— Adhitya Mangudy Venkata Ganesh from Maharashtra, Ananda Bhaduri from Assam, Kanav Talwar from Uttar Pradesh, Rushil Mathur from Maharashtra, Arjun Gupta from Delhi, and Siddharth Chopra from Maharashtra. Out of these six, four boys — Adhitya Mangudy Venkata Ganesh, Ananda Bhaduri, Arjun Gupta, and Siddharth Choppara – also participated in IMO 2023.

The team was led by Professor Krishnan Sivasubramanian from IIT Bombay and Dr Rijul Saini from Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education. Dr Saini is also a former medalist at IMO.

India performed exceptionally well in this prestigious event after a gap of 35 years and in the overall tally, Indian team has been successful in reaching the top five.

India’s total score at the Olympiad was 167, which is only a mark behind South Korea which ranked third, while team USA won a total score of 192. In all, 609 students took part (528 boys and 81 girls) in IMO 2024.

To represent India at the global level, students have to appear for six stages. Stage one is called a preliminary round where students are tested against basic math questions in multiple choice questions format. Round two is known as Regional Mathematical Olympiad, where candidates are given three hours to complete six questions.

Stage three is the Indian National Mathematical Olympiad. In the third round, around 900 students from across the country are selected and just 35 of them are shortlisted for round four. The stage four is a 10-day residential training camp in Mumbai where students are trained via lectures, exams, and problem-solving sessions and top six candidates are selected to represent India at IMO.

These six shortlisted candidates are given advanced training through lectures, tests, and mock papers to appear for the IMO and then comes the final round.

Now, those who make it through to the final crossing the multi-stage filter process, are bound to be extra-ordinary. But, it is a matter of sorrow to know the darker side for these extra-ordinary kids. Arjun Gupta, who won silver medal in Olympiad, was not supported at all by his school. Arjun also represented the country in Chess Championship in 2018 and 2019. However, due to the CBSE attendance norm of 75 per cent, he was unable to give his best in the Olympiad. Till Class 9, he studied from DPS Rohini, Delhi.

After that he had to switch to National Institute of Open Schooling. His parents requested the school authorities to relieve him from attending school and assessments, but they dismissed it citing CBSE’s promotion rules that require a minimum attendance percentage. The same student has scripted the history now.

IMO is a celebration of mathematics. Therefore, while preparing for such a prestigious competition, it is the duty of parents and teachers to encourage and support such a child. Many a times, instead of supporting their children, parents also ask them to abstain from such an exercise and concentrate on their course of studies.

So far as the importance of Mathematics is there, Mathematics is often regarded as the language of the universe, a fundamental tool that shapes how we understand and interact with the world. Its importance extends far beyond the classroom, influencing our daily lives in profound ways.

The various benefits it offers students are – ability of Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Financial Literacy, Everyday Problem-Solving, Time Management, Cognitive Development, i.e. enhancement of memory, attention, and reasoning abilities, real-World Application, Technological Proficiency and above all Career Opportunities.

Moral of the story: Push the young generation to elevate its competency in mathematics. After all, we are the descendants of Aryabhatta.