‘The Whizkids’: Two Anantnag students make Kashmir proud, crack International Mathematics Olympiad

SRINAGAR: Mohammad Faariq Mir, 8, is on cloud 9 after he secured second rank in International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO). 

For the second standard student of Whizkids School, Anantnag, it is the first step towards realizing his dream of becoming a scientist and a mathematician.

“I want to be like Albert Einstein. He is my inspiration. I started preparing for IMO last year. Thankfully, I was able to crack it. I secured the second rank,” he told The Kashmir Monitor.

Son of a government officer, Faariq has been in love with math, unlike other kids who fear the subject in school.  “My dad and teachers helped me a lot. I love math,” he said.

Cut to Mohammad Aatik, 7, a first-standard student of Whizkids School, Anantnag. The boy secured the ninth rank in IMO. Son of an advocate, Aatik appeared in Science, English, and Maths streams. However, he secured 9^th rank in the maths stream.

“I want to be a doctor. I love science. I do not fear math. In fact, I do not fear any subject. I wrote exams for English, Science, and Math. I got the ninth rank in maths subject” said Aatik.

Nearly 40 lakh students from 13 countries appeared in the examination. There are two tier-test for these Olympiads which are held in six subjects including Science, Math, English, and others. However, for first and second-standard students, there is only one test.

 “The basic aim of holding the Olympiad is to prepare students for competitions from a very young age. We hold Olympiads in six subjects and nearly 40 lakh students from across the world write these exams,” said Zainul Mohammad Majeedi, Coordinator, Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF), J&K.

SOF holds first-level exams in respective schools but the second-level test is held in different centers. “For class 1 and 2, there is a single test. From Class 3 to 12, there are two-tier tests. For the second tier, the completion and papers are tough though the syllabus remains the same.  Students get exposed to international competitions by writing such exams. We also provide them with performance reports. That helps the students to overcome their weaknesses,” said Majeedi.

Zahoor Ahmad, Principal of Whizkids School, said they have been regularly participating in these competitions to prepare students for achieving bigger goals in life. “Earlier too, our students have written these exams and brought laurels to the school and the state. The two kids worked very hard to crack Olympiad this year,” he said.