Result of the Soroban Competition in Ha’apai Featured
Top in the class 3 written examination from Ha’apai Soroban Competition on Thursday, 20 July 2017.
27 July, 2017. The Soroban Competition for Ha’apai Schools was held on Thursday, 20 July 2017 at the Ha‘apai High School Hall.
Ms. ‘Utulamataki Tonga, Principal of Ha’apai High School was the guest of honour at the competition.
191 soroban students from six Government Primary School in Ha’apai competed with each other in the three judging categories; written examination, oral examination, and flash examination.
The top overall school was awarded to Pangai Government Primary School. Faleloa Government Primary School came second and Fotua Government Primary School came third.
Top students in the written examination from Ha’apai will be brought to Nuku’alofa to compete in the National Soroban Competition next year in March.
Sesilia Vaha’i of Pangai Government Primary School won the written examination for class 3 while Seionala Launoa won the written examination for class 4. Taina Palu of Faleloa Government Primary School won the written examination for class 5. (kindly refer to result of the soroban competition in Ha’apai attached herewith).
Soroban education was introduced in the 1970’s to schools in the Kingdom, and it has remained as one of the foundation of the long-standing and strong ties between Japan and Tonga.
Tonga’s Ministry of Education and Training has proven that soroban contributes to strengthen the mathematical skills of primary students, hence the incorporation of soroban education as a compulsory element in the mathematics subjects from Class 3 to Class 5, for all Government Primary Schools throughout the Kingdom.
The Embassy of Japan in Nuku‘alofa and the Ministry of Education and Training co-hosted the Soroban Competition since 2010, with district competitions in the outer islands before top students are brought to compete in the National Competition in Nuku‘alofa every year in March.
The Class 5 written category winner from the National Competition will be invited to join the Soroban Summer Camp in Japan, hosted by Japan International Soroban Diffusion Foundation.
The 2017 Soroban Competition begins with Ha’apai Islands, before the competition in Vava’u on August 7 and the competition for the three districts of Tongatapu will be on the 15, 17 and 24 of August.
The soroban competition for ‘Eua will be in September 7th.
The Soroban Competitions is supported annually by the Tonga Soroban Education Association, JICA Tonga Office, and Japan International Soroban Diffusion Foundation.
