RIYADH, 2 January 2006 — An internationally accredited system of mental arithmetic, which promises to provide sharpened abilities to children, has been introduced in Saudi Arabia. While the program is new to the Kingdom, its methods are ancient and effective.
The new system will ensure self-reliance among children, cut their dependence on modern gadgets like calculators and computers and enable them to solve mathematical problems with equal speed.
The program is being provided by UC MAS Education Group, a private Malaysian-based educational services company with a presence in nearly 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, Britain, India and Australia, according to the company’s website.
UC MAS’s Saudi representative, Mohammed Rafi, said that “numbers are the basics of all sciences, and mastering the art of calculating mentally would definitely create a new fascination among students and teachers of the Kingdom.”
Rafi said the program is aimed at children four to 12 years of age in order to “develop their latent power at an early age.”
UC MAS utilizes the ancient, trustworthy abacus to teach children calculation.
“After practicing calculation with the help of abacus for some time, children could perform the manipulation of beads mentally, calculate faster and deliver accurate results,” said Rafi. “At the advance level, the abacus is withdrawn from the child and they are trained to visualize an ‘Imaginary Abacus’ to perform different types of mathematical calculations, mentally.”
He said that this program facilitated not only picking up speed in calculation but also contributed to build clarity of thought, imagination and concentration together with ability to think better and faster.
The teaching method originates form the Zhusuan Methodology that was originally discovered and developed in China.
More information about this new program can be had by mailing inquiries to [email protected].
