RIYADH, 7 December 2007 — A cross-section of students from Saudi Arabia who can do math in their heads faster than calculators have won the championship trophy at a global mathematics competition.

The students also won prizes for their individual performances in the 14th Universal Concept of Mental Arithmetic Systems (UC-MAS Abacus) championship held in Malaysia last week.

Mohamed Rafi, UC MAS Abacus chief moderator, who returned to Riyadh with the group of students recently, said: “Some 23 countries, including Saudi Arabia, and a total of over 3,000 students participated in the competition and the students were left to challenge each other in 12 different categories of mental skill and abilities. Each category was contested by more than 500 students.”

Spelling out the details of Saudi participation in the Malaysian event, Rafi said that the UC-MAS Abacus event was organized by a group of scientific bodies in cooperation with Malaysia and China. UC-MAS Abacus program has been adopted by 40 countries across the globe. The students of UC-MAS from the Eastern Province’s Indian school took first honors at the event. Sandeep Narayan and T. Maria Sindhura stood first and third respectively in the Elementary “A” category.

Hala Majeed ranked fourth in the Elementary “B” category. The remaining six students, Mustali Mazher, Danish Anis, Faraz Ali, Zoha Akeel, Tritali Batlekar and Andrea Fernandes, topped in the merit list.

“Every participant of UC-MAS Saudi Arabia returned with a trophy and winning accolades,” said Rafi, adding that the students were asked to perform 100 sums in six minutes. “The calculation was done with accuracy much faster than the calculator,” said the moderator.

The performance of UC-MAS Saudi Arabia students was applauded by over 6,000 spectators watching the championship in Malaysia. “The UC MAS course is taught by a tool named Abacus,” Rafi pointed out. “In ancient times, this method was used in Iraq and the Gulf; and later it was adopted in China. The calculation tool Abacus, which is also called Zhusuan in Mandarin, has a very old history.”

The Abacus, which was taken to China and developed as a calculator, is practical and useful in solving mathematical problems and is especially handy in teaching the concept of numbers to young children.

The UC-MAS Mental Arithmetic education program builds the ability to calculate fast and accurately. Currently, UC-MAS students pursuing courses in China, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, India, the UAE, Canada, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and Japan have shown extraordinary abilities and they can calculate up to 10 digits in their head.

UC-MAS is available throughout Saudi Arabia in a number of schools and private educational centers.