Malta wins big in global maths competition

Malta has secured first place in an international maths competition for the fourth year in a row after Maltese entrants ranked top in six out of nine age categories.

Students from schools in Għarb, Marsaxlokk, Msida, St Julian’s and Żejtun bested tens of thousands of fellow competitors between the ages of six and 15 in this year’s SUPERTMATIK International Math Competition.

Competitors are timed as they solve a series of mental arithmetic puzzles, with time penalties incurred for each wrong answer.

Maltese competitors placed in the top 10 of every age category, with Maltese schoolchildren claiming at least half of the top spots in five of the nine categories.

Malta beat Spain and Portugal – second and third places, respectively – to take the top spot in the top 20 country rankings, comfortably beating global superpowers USA and China, which ranked fifth and sixth.

Malta placed first in the SUPERMATIC Mental Math ranking.

Jean Karol Farrugia from Carlo Diacono school in Żejtun – the oldest Maltese entrant – beat more than 32,000 others to first place in category nine of the competition, for those born between 2009 and 2010.

Elisa Chetcuti, from Sacred Heart College in St Julian’s, pipped nearly 39,000 students to first place in category eight while Valeria Barbara, from St Martin’s College in Msida, beat about 50,000 others to win top place in category six.

Marsaxlokk Primary School student Ena Cassar got the better of 80,000 students to win first place in category five – the group with the largest number of competitors – while Għarb Primary student Leon Azzopardi, a winner from last year, beat more than 43,000 other students to win category three.

Fellow Għarb Primary student Ramsey Axiak became the youngest Maltese winner, fending off competition from more than 21,000 others to win first place in category two for those born in 2017.

Maltese entrants accounted for two-fifths of the top 10 places across all categories, appearing 36 times out of a possible 90.

The director of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at the education ministry, Melanie Casha Sammut, called the results “a testament to the dedication of class teachers, mathematics teachers and senior leadership teams”.

Describing SUPERTMATIK as “more than just a competition”, Casha Sammut called it a “dynamic platform that nurtures a passion for mental mathematics... it not only reinforces essential arithmetic skills but also celebrates young talent in mental calculation”.

Paying homage to Malta’s “remarkable international accomplishment” in the recent competition, she added: “A huge well done to all the finalists! You’ve made Malta proud!”

SUPERTMATIK is a maths game that students can either play one-on-one, against a computer or in timed trials, with the latter used for its annual international competition.

For the grand finale, which took place early last month, finalists were tasked with solving 15 math challenges in the shortest time possible and given three goes to achieve their best result, with a seven-second penalty issued for every wrong answer.

Over 373,000 students took part in this year’s competition.

Top results are outliers in underperforming system

While Maltese students excelled at the global maths competition, the same cannot be said for the Maltese education system as a whole. 

Malta consistently underperforms when compared to the OECD average on mathematics proficiency and has done so for well over a decade.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has found that Malta's average maths score, baseline proficiency and percentage of top performers are all below average, with a notable proportion of students not achieving baseline proficiency in the subject.