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<\/p>\nBy Ignatius Okorocha <\/p>\n
Inside Junior Secondary School Kurudu on Saturday, June 20th 2026, the tension was not from an exam hall but from a countdown timer. 204 students from 19 schools tapped at computer keyboards, solving problems that would decide the 16 finalists of the second Young Champions of Mathematics competition.<\/p>\n
At the center of it all stood Joshua Gum Alom, convener of YCOM. A mathematics educator himself, Alom started the initiative with one goal: kill the fear.
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\u201cSome students have phobia for mathematics as a subject. Some students don’t like mathematics,\u201d Alom said. \u201cAnd the fact is that mathematics is applied in all aspects of life and in our everyday life. Whatever we do, mathematics is applied.\u201d<\/p>\n
*From 113 Students to 204: Building on Year One* <\/p>\n
YCOM began the journey in 2025. The first edition drew 113 students from 16 schools. \u201cIt came out very successful,\u201d Alom recalled. That success pushed the team into a second edition this year. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe held the grand finale on Saturday, June 20th 2026 at Junior Secondary School Kurudu. At the event about 19 schools participated at the second edition out of which we had 204 students in attendance from all the schools. Out of the number, 16 finalists were recorded and the competition was very successful.\u201d
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG-20260621-WA0043.jpg\")
Winners of the grand finale of the YCOM and their awards<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
*Two Phases, One Purpose: CBT Meets Confidence* <\/p>\n
The competition runs in two phases. Phase one is a Computer Based Test. For many students, it\u2019s their first time touching a mouse in an exam setting. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn the test a student will be exposed to ICT and we also put them through because we understand that not all students are exposed to such gadgets,\u201d Alom explained. \u201cAnd so, we put them through and they were very excited, very happy. You could see the joy on the faces of the students.\u201d<\/p>\n
The finals brought something else: testimony. A pioneer member from the 2025 edition, Olivia Sunday of Leaders Academy, tried to encourage the students on the benefits she derived from the programme, shared how the programme positively shaped her academic growth and improved her analytical thinking skills,\u201d Alom said. \u201cShe understood that mathematics is not just about answering questions in the class. She noticed that mathematics is beyond that. Mathematics helps you to be a better thinker, to reason better, to be a better leader.\u201d <\/p>\n
Alom called it \u201can inspiring lesson to all the students and it was a very wonderful exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n
*Did YCOM Change WAEC\/NECO Results?* <\/p>\n
\u201cIn last year’s maiden edition of YCOM those who participated were mainly students from Junior Secondary schools being prepared for Junior WAEC \/NECO,\u201d Alom said. The YCOM contest held after their internal exams, but before the external ones. <\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the results we got, our students who participated in that Exam not only had more confidence going into such external Examinations but performed excellently. So many of them scored ‘A’s in Mathematics.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year, YCOM doubled down on catching them young. \u201cIn the just concluded Mathematics Competition we emphasized on JSS 1 and 2 students to see how we can catch them young and groom them well in mathematics so that moving forward they will not see mathematics as a difficult subject, they will not see it as a challenging subject but they would be able to put in more effort in mathematics so as to be better individuals in life.\u201d <\/p>\n
The logic is simple: \u201cAs we are preparing them in the YCOM competition, in a way they are also preparing for all these external Certificate Examinations.\u201d<\/p>\n
*The Dream: From FCT to 36 States of the Federation, and a Monthly \u2018Champions League\u2019* <\/p>\n
\u201cAs an Educator, I teach Mathematics and so, I understand how important mathematics is, even if one may not be a Mathematician tomorrow but the fact that Mathematics is applied in all phases of life,\u201d Alom said. <\/p>\n
After two successful editions, the calls are getting louder. \u201cThere are calls that we should extend the programme because of its importance to students and we are trying to see how we can take the programme to the six Area Councils in FCT, Abuja and the 36 states of the Federation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The expansion starts next month. \u201cAs I speak now, we have plans in place to launch our YCOM Champions League in Mathematics. We are launching it in July next month and after the launch, the programme will be every month. Every week the students will converge for tutorial and at the end of the month there will be competition at the end of which we will announce a Champion.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not all. \u201cTherefore this dream is not just a one day thing, it’s going to continue. Aside that, we will be having our annual YCOM Competition. So, we are going to expand the dream, to include awarding a Cup in mathematics competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Alom, the end game is national. \u201cMathematics is problem solver and we believe that through this initiative the nation’s problems would be solved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile,the Federal Capital Territory Universal Basic Education Board (FCT UBEB) has expressed strong support for the expansion of the Young Champions of Mathematics (YCoM) competition across schools in Abuja, following the successful conclusion of its second edition.<\/p>\n
Representing the Executive Chairman of FCT UBEB, Mr. Mohammed Baturi Umar commended the organizers and JSS Kurudu for their commitment to educational development.<\/p>\n
He noted that the objectives of YCoM align with the Board\u2019s vision and expressed interest in scaling the initiative across more schools in the FCT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Ignatius Okorocha Inside Junior Secondary School Kurudu on Saturday, June 20th 2026, the tension was not from an exam hall but from a countdown timer. 204 students from 19 schools tapped at computer keyboards, solving problems that would decide the 16 finalists of the second Young Champions of Mathematics competition. At the center of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14978"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14982,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14978\/revisions\/14982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}