ISLAMABAD: More than 17000 students from grades four to eight across the country, have participated in Maarif Inter-School Maths Olympiad (MISMO) the biggest and most comprehensive mathematical competition in Pakistan.
According to the details, this is an initiative of Pak-Turk Maarif International Schools and Colleges, which is aimed to bring out Mathematical intelligence and skillfulness among Pakistani young Mathematicians.
MISMO applications regularly open in September every year and the competition is held on the last Sunday of November.
This year, Pak-Turk Maarif organized this mega Olympiad in 65 Olympiad centers in 35 different cities of Pakistan where more than 17000 students participated.
Pak-Turk Maarif believes in providing equal opportunity, therefore, MISMO applications are accepted from the students of Public and Private schools across Pakistan.
Through MISMO, Pak-Turk Maarif provides a neutral platform for students to think and resolve logical and analytical problems and showcase their mathematical skills.
Country Director of Pak-Turk Maarif Int’l Schools and Colleges Harun Küçükaladagli said the motto of the 2022 MISMO Olympiad is “who will be the next Al-Khwarizmi of Pakistan?”
We want to motivate the students to discover their potential rather than implying this event is merely a contest. Our aim is to spread awareness among people about our historical personalities, and scholars who have contributed to the world’s history with their discoveries, he said.
Country Director said MISMO, was Pakistan’s biggest academic event, giving an opportunity to students from public and private schools to present their mathematical talent.
Besides, this mega competition also invites school management, teachers, and students from different academic backgrounds to work as one team. Therefore, MISMO is considered an important contribution from Türkiye’s experience in this field to the academic environment of Pakistan for being open to all.
Bugra Ozler, the Education Coordinator of Pak-Turk Maarif International Schools and Colleges, underlined that the candidates can have varied exposures as per their academic cultures, regional backgrounds, and overall academic development. However, in order to maintain a reliable, valid, and fair assessment, the scoring depends on the basis of the difficulty index of Olympiad questions.
This index data is derived from the student population and reflects the actual proficiency level of participants and schools.
Each question item, therefore, carries different weightage in regard to the difficulty index of grade-specific populations. Objective questions in the MISMO are assessed through computer-aided methods and data analysis software including ICR technology.
He said Pak-Turk Maarif Schools has given utmost importance to the transparency of the entire Olympiad process by ensuring the secrecy of MISMO printables, utilizing tailored transport modes, formulating digital platforms for application, arranging and on-boarding affiliated Olympiad centres, providing comprehensive training for duty staff and quality assurance support throughout the process.
“We have been using high-edge question setting for developing MISMO content, and we have set certain standard quality indicators for each question item, such as real-life connection, addressing higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in authentic contexts,” Ozler said.
The prime focus of MISMO, is to assess such a high number of cohorts on both qualitative and quantitative scales and bring together students from diverse academic cultures and different regions.
