Around 87,000 pupils from 1,436 primary and secondary schools in Slovakia have entered the world's largest mathematics competition - the Mathematical Kangaroo, Vladimir Burjan, one of organisers of the event, told SLOVAKIA on March 27.
"Some want to represent their school, some want to say that they're the best," he said.
The most successful participants will gain diplomas, an opportunity to spend the summer at an international mathematics camp or other prizes. The Slovak schools will receive the results in three weeks, along with a complete set of statistics. Organisers want to prevent the contest from becoming a competition between the participating countries, and have decided therefore not to announce the results and rankings of individual states.
"We want as many pupils to join in, not only the best ones ... it should be a mass event," added Burjan.
The Mathematical Kangaroo was set up in France in 1991. Over 4.5 million pupils from 37 countries took part last year. Slovak schools join the competition for the ninth time this year. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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