by Shabih Bashir, Mathematics Enrichment Coordinator

Doha College has a tradition of achieving highly in mathematics, and this year has yielded many honours. Please join us in thanking our teachers and in congratulating our young mathematicians, whose successes are described below in these highlights of 2020/2021:

Our KS3 Students achieved a remarkable 9 Gold, 30 Silver, and 27 Bronze certificates in the UKMT Junior Challenge. Efe Nazlim (Year 6), Jianne Lee (Year 7) and Erin Kim (Year 8) achieved ‘Best in Year’ awards.

Our KS4 students achieved an amazing 9 Gold, 19 Silver, and 21 Bronze certificates in the UKMT Intermediate Challenge. Annaika Manu (Year 9), Sendhur Muthukumar (Year 10) and Bradley Wong (Year 11) achieved ‘Best in Year’ awards.

Our KS5 students achieved an outstanding 4 Gold, 9 Silver, and 12 Bronze certificates in the UKMT Senior Challenge. Mathula Muhundan (Year 12) and Ailsa Cameron (Year 13) achieved ‘Best in Year’ awards.

Abdullah Ehsan, Rayyan Qureshi, Hashim Nasr, Jianne Lee (Year 7), and Gauri Jaiswal, Aditya Kalarikkal, Ryaan Khan, Nirman Munawar and Erin Kim (Year 8) all qualified for the invitation only Junior Kangaroo. Mohammed Sajaad, Sundhur Muthukumar, Alexandrina Hudson, Mariam Elantably, Dharun Chidambaram (Year 10), and Bradley Wong, Nisarga Kumuda, Agrima Khare, Abhinav Gudavalli (Year 11), all qualified for the invitation only Pink and Grey Kangaroos. Ailsa Cameron (Year 13) and Mathula Muhundan, Arunima Srivastav and Aayami Jaguri (Year 12) all qualified for the invitation only Senior Kangaroo. Unfortunately, these follow-on rounds were only open to UK-based students, but nevertheless this is a remarkable achievement.

Additionally, Erin Kim and Ryaan Khan, both in Year 8, secured qualification for the (British) Junior Mathematical Olympiad. The Junior Mathematical Challenge encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using mathematical techniques to solve interesting problems.

Six Doha College students achieved certificates of Distinction, which means that they ranked within the top 25% in the world, in the University of Waterloo CEMC CAYLEY (Year 11) contest. Five Doha College students achieved certificates of Distinction in the University of Waterloo CEMC FERMAT (Year 12) contest and Seven Doha College students achieved certificates of Distinction in the University of Waterloo CEMC EUCLID (Year 13) contest.

Rayhaan Moideen (Year 11) achieved the highest score from our school in CAYLEY and as our overall scores were also high enough, Rayhaan has been awarded a medal by the University.

Arunima Srivastav (Year 12) achieved the highest score from our school in FERMAT and as our overall scores were also high enough, Arunima has been awarded a medal by the University.

Noureldin Ali (Year 13) achieved the highest score from our school in EUCLID and as our overall scores were also high enough, Noureldin has been awarded a medal by the University.

Arunima Srivastav and Jade Pires (below) were offered the chance to enter the contest for the year above (EUCLID) by Mr Bashir, and after participating in it, they both achieved a certificate of Distinction!

Nevio Carta, Salma Haba, Annaika Manu and Nithukshan Thirugnanasambanthar participated in the Qatar Mathematics Network Year 9 Inter-school competition. The team battled four other schools from Qatar and placed first in the one-hour, three-round contest. Salma achieved the highest score in our school and distinguished herself particularly in the mental mathematics round, where she achieved the highest score from our school. She was presented with a DFC voucher along her certificate.

KS5 Students from Doha College reached the final day of the 5 week RITANGLE competition (a challenge aimed at teams of sixth form/college students running over approximately 5 weeks; it’s made up of around 24 ‘first round’ questions, released daily on weekdays, unlocking information necessary to solve the final multi-part question).

“It is incredibly gratifying to observe our students excel beyond our very high expectations of them. Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, we have facilitated over 20 competitions and events for our students this year, and both students and teachers have shown an immense amount of enthusiasm towards these opportunities. Not only are our students ultra-successful, but they are also kind and supportive of each other; with spontaneous bursts of applause and praise-giving being the norm. Years ago when I joined this school, I was told that it was cool to be a mathematician here, and I am very proud to be involved in continuing this wonderful legacy.”

Shabih Bashir, Mathematics Enrichment Coordinator

Congratulations to all our mathematicians and our dedicated teachers, who have nurtured their capabilities and provided them with these amazing competing opportunities!