IMTA and maths education

Inaugural IMTA / Accenture Maths prize for LC 2011

In their role of promoting mathematics nationwide, a new award has been established to recognize excellence in mathematics at Leaving cert level by the Irish Mathematics Teachers’ Association.

The award is known as the “Accenture Analytics Mathematics Excellence Award” and the Irish Mathematics Teachers’ Association is pleased to announce that the first recipient of the award is Alan O’Regan from Montonette in Cork.

A former student of Christian Brothers College in Cork, Alan was presented with his award and a generous cheque by Mr. Richard Southern of Accenture at an informal function in the school recently. Speaking at the function, Mr. Paul Pierotti, a colleague of Mr. Southern, congratulated the winner, noting that being the best in the country was a wonderful achievement. He noted that Accenture were very pleased to be associated with such excellence and noted that Alan was just the type of person that Accenture would love to recruit in their Analytics division.

Tributes were paid to Alan by his maths tutor Mr. Donal  O’Mahony  and school principal Dr. Laurence Jordan for his enthusiasm and love of mathematics. “Alan was always motivated” declared Mr. O’Mahony , “and was driven to excellence by his classmates who generated a competitive edge in the classroom and Alan was the student whose mathematical  ability  set him apart and he was always highly enthused by maths. I was not surprised that he had achieved the best result in the country” he concluded.

The Chairperson of the IMTA, Mr. Dominic Guinan, paid tribute to Alan’s achievement and outlined the origin of the award. Coinciding with the introduction of the Project Maths syllabus, an implementation group, coordinated by IBEC was established to supplement the work of the Project Maths team. This committee decided on the establishment of an award to recognize the best result in Maths.

The IMTA agreed to co-ordinate the project and Accenture came on board enthusiastically as sponsors. It is envisaged that this award will promote mathematics nationwide and help achieve the stated aim of having 30% of Leaving Cert students sitting higher level maths in the near future. The involvement of Accenture emphasizes the practical nature of Project Maths, where the application of Mathematics is at the centre of its core business.

Alan is currently studying Mathematical Sciences in UCC. A noted public speaker, Alan accepted the award with pride and expressed his delight on his achievement being recognized and thanked his family, his school, the IMTA and Accenture for the award.

It is envisaged that this will become an annual award and may be expanded following the success of this year’s presentation.