Maths Contest: 6 Perfect Scores From Singapore

496,000 participants from 39 countries took part in an international mathematics competition run yearly by the Australian Mathematics Trust in August 2000, and only nine students achieved a perfect score. Of these nine perfect-score students, six were from Singapore.

The six Singapore students received the prestigious BH Neumann Certificate of Excellence from Australian High Commissioner Murray McLean on 19 Oct 2000.

Professor Peter Taylor, executive director of the Australian Mathematics Trust, was in Singapore for the certificate presentation to the six Singapore students.

Prof Taylor is very impressed by the maths abilities of Singapore students, and he said that Singapore schools should keep up their high standards in mathematics. He is especially impressed by the perfect performance of the six Singapore students.

Commenting on Singapore's PSLE Maths paper, which some Singapore parents considered too difficult because of the problem-solving questions, Prof Taylor said: "Year after year, Singapore students outperform students from many other countries, so obviously, the schools here have strong programmes in mathematics. They should keep it up.''

Prof Taylor said that problem-solving questions are necessary to prepare students for the real world. "At work, for example, you would have to apply your mathematical skills in solving real problems.''

26,271 students from 107 schools and junior colleges in Singapore sat for the test, which was divided into three papers - junior, intermediate and senior - for students 13 to 18 years old. About half of the questions in the test required problem-solving skills.

The six perfect scorers from Singapore said they found problem-solving questions challenging. They were Chen Zepeng, 14, and Chin Weicheng, 13, from Raffles Institution, Jonan Lee Chun Yin, 15, from Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), Lin Zhixiang, 17, Wang Sai, 18, and Zhang Yuxi 17, from River Valley High.

In 1999, four out of the eight students who obtained full marks were Singapore students. So this year's crop of six perfect-score students represented a 50% increase.

Source: The Straits Times (Singapore) 20 Oct 2000