Tristan Thomas, a grade 10 student of Munro College, surprised himself by walking away with the top award for his form at this year’s staging of the Jamaican Mathematical Olympiad.

According to Thomas, like many Jamaican students, math is not his strongest subject at school.

“I was a bit surprised, actually. I saw the paper, and I doubted that I would top my grade,” Thomas told the Jamaica Observer after being recognised at the award ceremony on Thursday at the University of the West Indies, Mona.

“I am happy that I came on top. It is not really my best subject at the moment, it is the sciences,” said an elated Thomas, adding that preparation for the competition involved completing past papers with his mathematics teacher.

Jacob Chen and Tori Senior, of Campion College, were the first and second runners-up for that category, respectively.

Other winners in the competition were Jace Jarrett of Campion College in the grade 11 category; William Lei of American International School of Kingston (AISK), grade nine; Na’ima Williams of Campion College, grade eight; Andre Thu of Cornwall College, grade seven; Blake Wilson of Bright Beginnings Educational Centre, grade six; Austin Xiang of Hillel Academy, grade five; and Aiden Young of Porter Centre for Knowledge, grade four.

Forty-eight top performers at the high school level (grades seven to 11) were recognised for their performances in the competition, while another 109 students were recognised at the junior level (grades four to six).

Notable attendees at the ceremony included Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr; Sagicor Group Jamaica boss Chris Zacca and wife Gillian Zacca; Dominican Republic ambassador to Jamaica, Angie Martinez and entertainment power couple Wayne Marshall and his wife, Tami-Chin Mitchell.

A total of 580 students from 29 high schools, and 2,500 students from 108 primary and preparatory schools, entered the competition.

More schools at the secondary level are being urged to participate to help boost the performances of students in the subject at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) level.

“It provides a very good opportunity for them to showcase math at their individual school because it requires some preparation at the local level before they can enter these competitions,” Clarence Burrell, a mathematics teacher and faculty advisor for the subject at Munro College, said.

“I definitely encourage many schools to participate. That is what math teachers, math clubs and math societies are about, it’s to bridge the gap between students being great at the lower levels and then moving up,” Burrell continued. “We lose them along the way, and we only have a few students who do well at math, so we are happy to see these competitions, and we encourage other schools to enter.”

In 2024, only 33 per cent of students who sat the mathematics examination at the CSEC level passed. Regionally, only 36 per cent of students passed the exam, a decline from the 43 per cent in 2023.

Burrell, while acknowledging that many students are fearful of the subject, noted that a competition such as the Olympiad allows students to feel more comfortable in the subject area.

“I think the programme definitely provides an opportunity for those students, whether they are good at math or bad at math,” Burrell said.

“I saw the CSEC math results, and I saw that it is declining, and I wanted to provide as many opportunities as I can for the students to explore math more than chalk and talk by applying it to the real world,” he continued. “A lot of students are afraid of maths, so it shows them that there are opportunities out there. It doesn’t matter if they are really good at math or not so good at math; we are really here for them to ensure that they propel themselves.”

Head of the Department of Mathematics at UWI and chair of the Jamaican Mathematical Olympiad organising committee, Dr Mahesha Narayana, suggested that one of the main reasons for lower participation in the competition at the high school level was due to relatively less promotion by secondary school teachers.

“The main reason is that the teachers are behind the primary and prep schools. They promote participation in this, whereas when you go to the high schools and they are little adults, they participate in the event individually and sometimes independently of the teachers’ input. So that is the main thing we observe, so that’s why the numbers are a little less there,” Narayana said.

Narayana said the department is set to engage in capacity-building workshops to engage teachers at the secondary level in training to encourage student participation.

Dr Mahesha Narayana, head of the University of the West Indies, Mona department of Mathematics presents Aiden Yeung of Porter Centre for Knowledge with his first place award for the grade four category at the 2025 staging of the Jamaican Mathematical Olympiad. Photo: Karl McLarty

Clarence Burrell, a mathematics teacher and faculty advisor for the subject at Munro College. Photo: Karl McLarty