Preston children victorious in global mental arithmetic competition

The competition was hosted by India at CIDCO Exhibition and Convention Centre in Navi Mumbai, India on Decmeber 28 2023. Seven children from the ABACUS group took part and travelled along with coach Kiran and parents. Results for team United Kingdom were:

• 1 Champion of Champions title, won by seven year old Ridhi Patel
• 4 Champion titles
• 2 First Runner-up titles.

The ABACUS group was started at the Gujarat Hindu Society, Preston 4 years ago by Kiran Thiru. Kiran approached the Society with the ambition of improving arithmetic skills for young members who attend the centre. The aim of this course was to build confidence in children with mental maths and improve the thinking power. He came to the weekly sports Youth Club with a short presentation to the children involving an Abacus. The children were immediately enthused and inquisitive about this new way of learning and Kiran’s class was picked up by the Society.

The first class started with 15 children which has since grown to a total of 40 attending each Tuesday and Saturday. With the support and encouragement of parents, the children have come a long way and have seen great improvement academically. To support the group, the Society hold certificate presentations annually for the children and is presented by the committee members.

Kiran broached the subject of entering the students in an international competition: The Pan-Asia Mental Arithmetic Association. This competition has been held annually for the past 20 years ultimately testing Kiran was aware of the Global competition held by PAMA (Pan-Asia Mental Arithmetic Association) for the last 20 years. PAMA annual competition is comprised of five groups, based on the ages of the contestants.

The competition subjects include abacus addition and subtraction, multiplication, and division; mental arithmetic addition and subtraction, multiplication, and division have atotal of six subjects. Kiran saw great potential in the children and approached the Society and parents about entering some children into this competition.