Playground for math enthusiasts

Over the past five years, the Singapore and Asian Schools Math Olympiad (SASMO) held in Nha Trang City has attracted a thriving community of passionate math enthusiasts. This competition has provided an enriching intellectual playground, nurturing and fostering students’ passion for mathematics.

SASMO 2025 contestants.

SASMO is one of the prestigious international math competitions, expanding to many countries. The competition has just been organized by Kien Gia Math Center in coordination with other organizations in Nha Trang City since 2020.

The results of the national excellent student competition and the provincial excellent high school student competition in the 2024-2025 school year have recognized the achievements of SASMO participants, namely Doan Duc Minh, a 12th-grade math student, Le Quy Don Gifted High School (Nha Trang City) winning the first prize in Math in the national excellent student competition, a silver medal in the SASMO competition in 2020; Nguyen Van Hoang Bach, the first prize in Math in the provincial excellent high school student competition and Vu Minh Chau, the second prize in Math in the provincial excellent high school student competition, 9th-grade students at Thai Nguyen High School (Nha Trang City), silver medals in SASMO in 2024; Vo Truong Gia Bao, a 9th-grade student at Nguyen Hien High School (Nha Trang City), the second prize in Math in the provincial-level High School Excellent Student Competition and a SASMO consolation prize in 2024.

Doan Duc Minh said, “SASMO is one of the first math competitions in English that I have participated in, providing me with valuable experience in solving advanced mathematical problems. The test required writing in English, so I also tried to improve my English vocabulary, which helped deepen my studies and thus achieve higher achievements in the future.”

The SASMO 2025 drew 66,000 contestants from 8,163 schools in 42 countries and territories, including 5,800 contestants from 10 provinces and cities across Vietnam.

Kien Gia Math Center (Nha Trang City) jointly with the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, National Ho Chi Minh City University, hosted the Singapore and Asian Schools Math Olympiad (SASMO) 2025 at Nha Trang Examination Council on April 6 with 85 participants from grades 2 to 10. The test contained 25 questions, including 15 multiple-choice questions in English and Vietnamese.

The organizing board has just announced the results. Accordingly, the province had 41 prize-winners, accounting for 48.2% of the total number of contestants, with 15 gold, 13 silver, 11 bronze medals and 2 consolation prizes.

“I participated in the exam with the desire to explore and challenge myself; and meet other math enthusiasts. The SASMO requires thinking skills, inspiring me to develop mathematical intuition, reasoning, logical, creative and critical thinking, important skills not only in Mathematics but also in life. I am very happy to see Vietnam in the SASMO’s top rankings. The exam held in Nha Trang City was convenient for me and my friends to participate. I hope this exam and other international Math exams will be expanded," said Vo Kim Long, grade 7, at Vo Thi Sau High School (Nha Trang City), who won the gold medal twice in the SASMO exam (2024 and 2025) and ranked 2nd in grade 7 on the international rankings of the SASMO 2025.

According to Lam Uyen Thy, Director of Kien Gia Math Center, the contestants had undergone an intensive training process for about 4 months to practice logical thinking and problem-solving skills before taking the exam. This was also an important step for competing in higher-level exams.

The medals not only demonstrated winners’ abilities but also motivated them to continue pursuing their passion for Mathematics. The center has planned to organize some other international Mathematics competitions to create playgrounds for students to show off their talents and widen their knowledge.

H.N

Translated by N.T