Estonia's national e-calculation contest draws 10,700 participants
A total of 10,739 people took part in the third nationwide online math challenge during its first three hours. Of those, 375 answered all the questions correctly, more than in previous years.
Getter Põru won the €1,234 grand prize provided by SEB Bank. The grand prize was drawn from among all participants who answered every question correctly. Participants had to solve one problem for each school grade, for a total of 12 problems, prepared by Hele Kiisel, Helen Kaasik and Kristel Tamm of the Estonian Mathematical Society's school mathematics association.
Taking into account the time spent solving the problems, this year's rankings by category were as follows:
Upper secondary school students:
- Jasper Vähk
- Mattias Mahlakas
- Egert Pähkel
Basic school students:
- Karl Miko Põdra
- Märt Mattias Alas
- Mia Väinsar
University students:
- Romet Martjan
- Getlin Juhe
- Sergei Baumer
Teachers, lecturers and researchers:
- Rainer Bõkov
- Mikk Põdra
- Ekke-Markus Muttika
General participants:
- Hendrik Nigul
- Mihkel Kree
- Hannes Valk
The top upper secondary school student will be able to enroll in a bachelor's degree program of their choice at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), with the exception of architecture, while the top adult participant in the general category will have the opportunity to enroll in a TalTech microdegree program of their choice.
Participants could also take part in the math challenge together with family members, classmates, teammates or colleagues. A total of 378 groups registered. The largest was from Nõo Sciences High School, with 220 participants.
"The success of the third online math challenge shows that interest in mathematics is strong in Estonia. We are on the right track, but we need to see improvements in math skills more quickly. Large cohorts of upper secondary school graduates are currently entering universities, but considerably smaller age groups lie ahead. This makes it all the more important that we help every young person develop their abilities," said TalTech Rector Tiit Land, who completed the challenge at Võru High School.
The online math challenge is organized by Tallinn University of Technology, ERR and SEB Bank. All of this year's math challenge problems will remain available to solve until next year's competition.
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Editor: Jaan-Juhan Oidermaa, Marcus Turovski
