The eighth edition of the Universal Concept Mental Arithmetic System (UCMAS) has been organised with Ms Ekua Ofori-Amanfo and Ms Allen Okine emerging winners for the basic and senior divisions respectively.

Ekua Ofori-Amanfo of the Blessed Home School and Creche and Alleen Okine of the Crown Prince Academy were each rewarded with a cash prize of GH¢150 for winning the listening skills at their various levels.

This year’s edition formed part of UCMAS’ 10th Anniversary in Ghana, which was commemorated on the theme: “UCMAS, A Decade of Quality Total Brain Development: A Pedestal for National Development”.

About 960 students from various regions participated in this year’s national competition.

Mr Girish Gurbani, the Director of UCMAS Ghana Limited, said the UCMAS programme had trained children to exhibit speed and accuracy, confidence, concentration, improved learning skills, comprehension skills, outstanding creativity, photographic memory skills as well as arithmetic skills.

Mr Gurbani explained that UCMAS, which started in 2007 with two centres in Accra, was now present in all regions, operating 150 learning centres with more than 300 schools running the UCMAS programme as school curriculum activity.

He said the programme had the aim to ensure total brain development, eradicate mathematics phobia in children, boost their confidence level, enhance their listening skills and strengthen their creativity for the educational development of Ghana.

Mr Gurbani said UCMAS had extended its services to the West African sub-region including Ivory Coast, Togo, Cameroun, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Benin due to the success stories chalked in Ghana.

Other winners of the listening competition were Ms Millicent Doe of Blessed Home School and Creche and Ms Seyram Dede Sittie of the Valley View School placing second and third positions for the basic division.

Master Raphael Cudjoe of the River of Life Academy placed second for the senior division, whilst Master Sedem Bonsi of the Landlink School placed third position with cash prizes of GH¢100 and GH¢50 respectively.

Dr Peter Attafuah, the Greater Accra Regional Director, Ghana Education Service, called for the need to have the programme replicated in all schools in Ghana to help develop the brains of the country’s future leaders.

Dr Attafuah said the numerous benefits the UCMAS programme could be sustained with effective support and supervision at home by parents and guardians.

Quoting the famous scientist and thinker Albert Einstein, he said “When both right and the left hemisphere of our brains are combined and used effectively together, the results could be astonishing”.

Dr Attafuah urged the management of UCMAS to approach the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to deliberate on how best the programme could be extended to benefit every Ghanaian child

Mr Roger Ohemeng, the Chief Executive Officer of UCMAS said was a programme aimed at developing the right brain, which he described was responsible for concentration, memory power, creativity, imagination and speed.

Mr Ohemeng said; “Our system in Ghana concentrates more on the development of the left cerebrum (brain), which deals with numbers, languages, history and facts, but little of our subjects seek to develop the right brain of the child.”

He indicated that the UCMAS was a brain development programme for children between the ages of five to 13 years.

Mr Ohemeng announced that this year’s international competition to be held in Bahli in Indonesia would feature some UCMAS users from Ghana