250 students to take part in mental maths competition

The Childhood Cultural Centre (CCC), in collaboration with the Universal Concepts of Mental Arithmetic Systems (UCMAS) Qatar, will host the country’s first National Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Competition on May 25 in Doha. A total of 250 students from Qatar’s independent and public schools enrolled in the UCMAS programme will take part in the competition, which will be held under the patronage of HE Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, secretary-general of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC).  Last year, a team of students from Qatar competed in an UCMAS event in Malaysia, boosting interest in local agencies to support the development of math abilities in children.The CCC is organising the competition as part of its efforts to realise its objectives of promoting and establishing the principles of children’s early education as well as enhancing the role played by private organisations in realising social development in Qatar. RasGas Company Limited (RasGas) is a platinum sponsor of the competition as part of its corporate social responsibility programme’s 2013 Year of Education campaign.Abdulla Hashim, public relations manager at RasGas, said: “RasGas is proud to support Qatar’s first UCMAS competition. Such initiatives stimulate the minds of Qatar’s youth in a fun and engaging way. Social responsibility is integral to our business and our programme is aligned to Qatar National Vision 2030 and National Development Strategy 2011-16.” Mohamed Rashid Eid al-Shahwani, chairman of UCMAS Qatar, said: “UCMAS is an advanced programme that enhances the development of children’s abilities and fosters their thinking efficiency. I am pleased to see such a large number of Qatar’s children participating in the national competition.”The competition will be presided over by the UCMAS programme founder and Malaysia UCMAS Global Education Group president, Dr Dino Wong, the ambassador of Malaysia and other envoys to the State of Qatar, representatives of RasGas as the platinum sponsor, representatives of QOC as the patron of the programme in Qatar, and executives of the companies supporting the event.  “I would like to thank all the companies sponsoring the competition and hope that children in Qatar will benefit from this programme,” al-Shahwani said.