Mathematics can be a difficult subject for most. But what if there was a way to make understanding the concepts easier, like, say in a gamified manner? That is exactly what Bengaluru-based EdTech platform Countingwell is hoping to achieve with its Maths Premier League (MPL). A five-week competition, which begins on August 15, for schools and individual students, MPL will be conducted along the lines of the Indian Premier League, where each school will be like a cricket team and the students have to score runs by participating in weekly tests.
Speaking about the competition, Countingwell's Co-founder Nirmal Shah says, "The competition will be held on the Countingwell app. Students of Classes 6 to 8 can participate. They will be asked questions based on the first two chapters of their Mathematics textbook. We will be following the NCERT curriculum." Nirmal hopes that after the competition students will be well-versed with the first two chapters, essentially helping them prepare for their mid-term examinations.
So, how will students compete? "After attending the practice courses on the app throughout the week, where they will be taught how to solve Math problems from the two chapters, students will have to appear for a test at the end of every week for five weeks," says Nirmal. Besides cash prizes for individual students, prizes are also available for schools. "The schools with the most number of points will be the winner after five weeks. The students' score will be aggregated to determine the score. We are hoping that students will be motivated to play for their schools and score as much as possible to emerge as the winner," adds Nirmal.
While a cash prize of Rs 25,000 has been allocated for the winning school, prizes for individual students include weekly prizes for the highest scorer per week and also the overall highest scorer across the five weeks. "While we are focusing on schools and want schools to register and allow all their students from Classes 6 to 8 to participate, students from schools that are not participating can also register themselves separately," explains Nirmal. The competition to open to everyone and schools from all over the country have registered, he adds.
So, what have you go to do to register? Nirmal says that you just have to download the app and register yourself. If a school is already registered, students from that school will automatically be slotted when they register on the app. "The registration is free and students will be given 20 minutes free every day to do practice courses. They would have to subscribe beyond that. However, students don't have to pay to attempt the weekly tests," says Nirmal.
