Tech giants prove a vital addition to this year’s MATHletes Challenge

GOOGLE and eircom Business Solutions will host the nailbiting Leinster finals of the MATHletes Challenge 2015 on April 18 at eircom’s headquarter building and Google’s Foundry digital innovation centre.

Google and eircom Business Solutions are supporting the innovative maths initiative, which has seen 12,000 students throughout Ireland clocking over three million minutes competing and learning maths on the free online learning platform, the Khan Academy.

The Leinster provincial final promises to be intense as students, some of whom have spent over 5,000 minutes competing online since the challenge opened in January, vie for a place in the national final that will take place in DCU on May 2.

Over

?¬20,000 in prizes and the title of MATHletes Challenge All-Ireland Champion will be up for grabs.

Supported by the Department of Education, the MATHletes Challenge is a free online and in-person maths tournament for students in Ireland from 4th Class to 5th Year. The challenge develops students’ confidence and competence in maths by using Khan Academy approach to learning and teaching maths.

The Leinster finalists, with an equal ratio of girls to boys, will proudly represent 107 different primary and secondary schools. The dedicated students qualified for the finals based on their performance on the MATHletes weekly leaderboards since the Challenge began on January 5.

MATHletes Challenge 2015 is supported by Google and eircom Business Solutions, companies that are acutely aware of the need and importance for greater STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) skills for the current and future jobs market.

Claire Connelly, Computer Science Education Programme Manager at Google said:

“Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths skills are crucial for the jobs of the future and the MAThletes Challenge is a great way to inspire children and teenagers.

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Lorraine Butler, Director of Enterprise & Government, eircom Business Solutions said:

“We are delighted to host the MATHletes Challenge 2015 and wish all of the students the very best of luck. Access to high-speed broadband for schools and communities is critical to education initiatives, such as the Khan Academy.

“We want to ensure as many areas as possible across Ireland can access these services.

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