The 24th UCMAS World Championship that took place in Cambodia on December 6 - 7, 2019, saw four Ghanaian pupils part of the overall best 12 winners in the international competition.

The event was also used to celebrate a successful decade of UCMAS established in the country and the successes thereof.

Mr Girish Gurbanishi, Director of UCMAS West Africa, said UCMAS was a subsidiary of UCMAS Educational Group in Malaysia and has been in Ghana since September, 2007.

He said they planned to establish UCMAS in Ghana after a visit to the country and realising that there was the need to build up arithmetical competences of Ghanaian school children.

Mr Gurbanishi said the competition improved pupils' comprehension and listening skills, and fostered their creativity and thinking skills.

"Over the years, school children who were beneficiaries of UCMAS have proven competencies in concentration, creative thinking, memory power and logical reasoning abilities," he said.

He said UCMAS was in 70 countries, adding that, their presence was growing by the day due to the usefulness of the programme.

Mr Roger Ohemeng, Chief Executive Officer of UCMAS Ghana, said UCMAS had partnered more than 700 basic schools, both public and private, in the competition in the country.

He said the competition begun at the zonal level, where winners from the zonal level met at the regions to compete, out of which the winners competed at the national level and the national champions represented Ghana at the international championship.

Mr Ohemeng said it was the responsibility of parents to provide the right environment for children to develop to their full potentials, and such a platform was UCMAS.

The basic school children who received prizes were the four champions; Daniel Yaw Ankomah Mensah, Suhani Kothari, Ishmael Hector Nii Nortei Morton and Cena Awontirim Avunden, among other 24 school children.

Participants were given certificates in addition to trophies.

The event was held on the theme: "A Decade of International Training and Brian Development."

Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Deputy Minister of Education in charge of Basic Education said education was not what he described as "a piece of the puzzle but the whole puzzle," adding that countries that had developed did not develop due to their natural resources, but through quality education.

Also in attendance were; Mrs Cynthia Mamle Morrison, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mr William Quaitoo, Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee of Education, Mr Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader, parents, among others.