Muffles College principal, Maria Johnston, the chairperson of the Belize Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (BAPSS), told Amandala today that their members have unanimously voted to not participate in the Social Security Board’s (SSB) Math Olympiad, a yearly national math competition, because the SSB has refused to drop a new rule that would limit the participation of students to once every two years.
SSB’s general manager of the Office of Strategic Management, Leticia Vega, the Math Olympiad Coordinator, confirmed to Amandala that the $200,000 competition is off—at least for 2012, because the SSB board had made a “very difficult decision” not to continue the competition in the fashion that it had been run in the past, because game participation must be increased beyond the current scope to ensure the goals and objectives are properly met.
Vega told us that the SSB reviewed the statistics of the Math Olympiad, now in its 5th year, and found out that 10% of the participants have competed more than three times, while 31% have competed two or more times. The SSB’s intent is to broaden the participation and maximize true student participation in the game, said Vega, noting that the game was decentralized from Belmopan in 2009, allowing different districts to host each year.
Each of 40 schools, Vega explained, sends four students every year, a pair of junior players from first and second forms, and a pair of senior players from third and fourth forms. However, Vega explained that as the rule now stands, the same student from the school can play for two years, leaving out other prospects from participating. The new rule would mean that a student can participate just once at the junior level and just once at the senior level.
The SSB describes the Math Olympiad as a “competition [which] allows students to compete at the BMO regional and national levels and benefits those who will sit the Mathematics Caribbean Secondary Examinations Certificate (CSEC) at the general level.”
Vega said that more student participation is needed to really achieve the SSB’s goal of fostering improved competency in math across a wider range of students.
Like the SSB, the high school principals are also standing their ground. When we spoke with Johnston today, she reiterated the stand that the schools have taken—not to participate under SSB’s new rule.
A concerned high school teacher told us that teachers, in general, are displeased with the suspension of the Math Olympiad for 2012.
Johnston expressed optimism that the competition could resume in 2013—but that all depends on whether the impasse over the new rule is broken.