The Maanga

The International Mathematical Olympiad has a simple format. Six students from each country solve six problems each with a maximum of seven marks each. The perfect score is a Douglas Adams like 42.  Usually, solving five problems gets one a gold, solving three gets a silver and solving two gets a bronze. Solving just one problem gets a honourable mention.   

Students with perfect scores (just a gold medal will not do), have gone on to win Fields medals, Nevanlinna prizes and Godel prizes in mathematics.  

What is India’s recent record at this Olympiad? Pathetic. We sent a contingent of six students to Madrid in 2008 and they came back with five bronzes and a honourable mention. India was ranked 31^st among all countries. Who was first? China. The last time India won a gold was in 2001. Were we not supposed to be better at all things intellectual when compared to the Chinese? Maybe all we are good at is outsourcing the west’s back-offices.  

So, what gives? We have a National Board of Higher Mathematics (NBHM) which conducts Regional Olympiads, National Olympiads and so on to finally select the six students to represent India. Professors from IITs and IIsc offer postal coaching to students for a year and a month long on-site coaching. Various professors have written books, presumably solving old Olympiad papers to train the students.  

Clearly this is not working. One look at old Olympiad papers shows that the problems are tough, but not very tough. There are many in India who can do all six. But, they are not going to the Olympiad, they are busy preparing for their engineering entrance exams.  

What can be done? One could simply abolish the National Board of Higher Mathematics and its Olympiad exams. I am sure they are making a case right now for the department to get more funds after the nuclear deal, as it is under the department of atomic energy for some obscure reason.   

The solution: Just pick up the top six rankers in the IIT Joint entrance exam, train them for the month or so using the few professors who have solved some tough problems, and send them to the Olympiad.  

That would be a much better than this elaborate charade for five bronzes. I forgot that honourable mention certificate? Stick it up the ………… of the senior professor who led the team this year. Fear is a great motivator. Look at China.   

There is a clear correlation between the few gold medallists India has and the toppers in the IIT entrance exam. While correlation is not causality, a system that seems to work in selecting the brightest students in the country need not be supplanted by one that is clearly selecting morons to be trained by other morons.