SALALAH, Dec 6 - Oman Math Day was an opportunity for a section of learners to understand the values, practices and new trends in the field, as they got to know that mathematics is the basis of all the sciences, it is very close to day-to-day life even to music which is also based on some compositions. “The practitioners of both have to compose. The solutions to all the complications lie in compositions, depending upon the formula and practices being used to solve those issues,” said one of the keynote speakers amid a gathering of teachers, students and senior staff members of Salalah College of Technology (SCT).
The event was part of Oman Mathematics Committee’s annual celebration of Oman Math Day, which is held every year from November 21 to 23. The event was inaugurated by Dr Hamdan al Manthari, Dean, Salalah College of Technology and presided over by Dr Said Omar al Mishiki, Dean of Academic Affairs.
Dr Hamdam emphasised the need to make regular math instructions calling upon the faculties to make it more attractive in order to wipe out the fear of mathematics from the young minds.
Viji Paul, Head of IT Department, quoted Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, and said “If you want to shine like a sun, first burn like a sun”. He compared the student participants to the shining sun, who burnt the midnight oil to create their presentations.
Dr Mallika Elan, Head of Mathematics Section and organiser of the event, called the event important for two reasons ‑to streamline the activities of the Oman Mathematics Committee, an associate member of the International Mathematical Union (IMU); and to understand the history of mathematics.
“We at SCT support the Oman Mathematic Committee in its goal to become an active member of the IMU, by conducting events on mathematics such as seminars, competitions and gatherings to help those interested in mathematics to meet, present, and discuss their ideas and research experiences,” she said.
“History has the task of teaching the present about the future by what happened in the past, she tried to summarise the whole process in a mathematical way.
On the sidelines of the event was a Math Fair, which was aimed at “training the brightest minds to solve tomorrow’s problems.” It had a theme titled ‘Applications and history of mathematics’.
The fair evoked good response with 25 participating teams from various colleges in Dhofar region. Varied presentations aimed at demystifying mathematics, promoting mathematical thinking in students and encouraging them practice math in all spheres of their life, were presented. Project on ‘Applications of calculus in estimating the time of safe dosage of drug’, won the first prize, while projects on ‘golden ratio’ and “sine cosine palm trick’ won the second and third prize respectively. The Math Fun corner added up a lot of fun for students and encouraged them to take a break from standard math lessons.
Kaushalendra Singh
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