He is only nine years old and can do maths on a level some adults cannot even imagine trying.
Yarav Maharaj, a learner from Constantia Kloof Primary School, represented South Africa in the Pan Pacific Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association (PAMA) Mental Maths competition in Seoul, South Korea, and brought back a silver medal.
According to him, he really enjoyed participating in the competition and he learnt a lot about the different countries and cultures. “Although I prepared well for this competition, the standard was very high and, compared to last year, the competition was quite tough,” he said. He competed against 158 children in his category and achieved a silver medal (second runner-up) – missing the first runner-up’s spot by one and a half per cent.
The other thing that was a bit of a problem for him, was the language barrier. “If we weren’t in the competition venue it was difficult for me to talk to anyone. During the competition it was a bit easier to understand, because they had translators,” he said.
According to his mother, Reeva, he had to listen very carefully for the English version. “As a child, his mind tends to wander when other languages are spoken because he can’t understand what is being said. If he had not been alert, he could easily have missed the English translation,” she said.
Reeva said that they, as parents, were extremely proud of him and what he has achieved since starting with Soroban maths about three years ago. “He has already brightened up our home with eight trophies, and had already qualified to compete internationally within his first year,” she said proudly. This was not Yarav’s first international competition – he has attended the maths camp in Japan and competed in San Francisco.
Yarav said that, since Grade 1, he has enjoyed working with numbers. Reeva believes that this is because of the confidence he has built up through his participation in the maths classes at A+ students.
Yarav has a clear plan for his future, and would like to be an Actuarial Scientist when he grows up. “It is a good thing that he has already started working with numbers,” Reeva said.
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