Aloha Bangladesh held its 18th National Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Competition on April 3 and 4 at International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB), bringing together more than 3,400 students from around 600 schools across the country.

According to a press release, the two-day event, which the organisation has conducted annually since 2008, forms part of a broader programme aimed at developing cognitive and numerical skills among children through abacus-based learning. Participants were given five minutes to solve up to 70 complex arithmetic problems, designed to assess both speed and accuracy. 

Winners received awards and certificates, with selected participants expected to represent Bangladesh at the Aloha International Competition scheduled to take place in Panama later this year.

Aloha, an ISO-certified learning system, operates in more than 40 countries and has reached over six million students worldwide, including in the United States, Canada, Australia, China, India and Malaysia. In Bangladesh, the programme has been active since 2006, offering training through multiple branches nationwide, states the press release.