For another year, the Sofia Mathematical High School “Paisiy Hilendarski” (SMG) has the highest minimum score for the admission of eighth-grade students in the first classification in Sofia, and perhaps this has been the case for eight or nine years, he said in an interview with BTA the director of the school, Dr. Antoine Tonev.
The Regional Department of Education (RDE) in Sofia-city announced yesterday that the Sofia Mathematical Gymnasium once again has the highest minimum score for applying after the seventh grade in the capital – 484,550 points out of a maximum of 500 points.
When asked what is the reason for this first place of SMG in the ranking of schools in Sofia and whether it is mainly due to the fact that students are accepted to study at the school from the fifth grade, the director answered that it is the result of a combination of three factors .
The first is related to the very high result of the exit of the seventh grade that our students show. This year, the average success of the national external assessment in mathematics at SMG is 97.39 points, which allows 100-110 students – our seventh graders, to be readmitted to us to continue learning from the eighth grade after being in school since the fifth grade. The huge percentage of students who have now achieved very high results are our graduates – they studied until the seventh grade at the Sofia Mathematical High School, explained Dr. Tonev.
He noted that the second factor for SMG’s excellent performance in the ranking of Sofia high schools is related to the very good teaching in mathematics and science, which has proven high results and this was seen in the state matriculation examinations in the 12th grade. This motivates the parents of students from other good schools, which are basic – up to the seventh grade, to wish to send their children to study from the eighth grade in SMG, the principal said. He clarified that this applies to both municipal and private schools.
The third factor, which is also not to be underestimated, is the social environment, which is very good at the Sofia Mathematical High School, said Dr. Antoine Tonev. “Parents want to send their children to a school where they know there are rules and norms, and where vices are highly limited. We monitor every student’s behavior and believe in the good spirit of society. I think that because of everything this SMG is such an attractive school right now for parents and for students,” commented the principal.
There is a renaissance of mathematics and natural sciences in Europe, and every year SMG students are accepted into Ivy League universities
“Now, in principle, there is a renaissance of mathematics and natural sciences, in general, in a European context. And mathematics, physics and informatics are increasingly in demand, and this is quite normal in view of the development of technology in recent decades. But not is just that, parents choose SMG because they know that the school will provide a good enough preparation for their children to apply after grade 12. This is why the Sofia Mathematical Gymnasium is such a desirable school, said Dr. Antoine Tonev.
We have SMG students accepted to Ivy League universities every year. This year we have a student from SMG who has been accepted to six of the Ivy League universities and that is Ilyas Noman.
Iliyas is an excellent 24-hour student from the “Excellents of Bulgaria” initiative. Last year, he was a silver medalist at the International Mathematical Olympiad, and now he is a bronze medalist at the International Mathematical Olympiad in Japan. Ilias Noman is a medalist in two international mathematics Olympiads and will study at an Ivy League university with a full scholarship, explained the director of the Sofia Mathematical Gymnasium
“Peter Zotev from SMG has been accepted to Cambridge and he placed 12th in the world in the International Biology Olympiad, which is the absolute 12th in the world and the first European. Everyone who placed before him was not from Europe .He has a gold medal and 12th place is a great achievement.Peter was second in the world last year and is now fundraising to be able to go to Cambridge to study because the fees are very high there, post-Brexit. The annual fee that Peter Jotev has to pay is £40,000,” said Dr Tonev.
Petar Zotev is the best Bulgarian biology student and second in the world, who dreams of continuing his education in Cambridge. The young man was accepted to study “Natural Sciences” at Trinity College of the University of Cambridge, Great Britain – a university that has given 121 Nobel laureates to the world. This was announced on June 21 by the organizers of the donation campaign, which supports Peter in raising funds for his studies at Cambridge
In SMG, in this year’s external assessment in mathematics, 48 students have 100 points, and over 90 students have between 99 and 100 points
This year, the national average score of the national external assessment in mathematics in the seventh grade is 35.29, it is very low and needs to be reformed. And the average score in mathematics at the Sofia Mathematics High School is 97.37 and is very close to 100 points, the director said.
“We have 48 students who received 100 points in mathematics, as well as over 90 students from the seventh grade – with between 99 and 100 points. It is normal that these students want to continue studying from the eighth grade in the Sofia Mathematical Gymnasium. These students can to be accepted in all good schools with these results, as our student is going to study at the School of Technology “Electronic Systems” (TUES) and I want to congratulate the colleagues of the school for the very attractive majors they have. TUES is a great school and is already at second place after SMG. “System programming” is offered at TUES, which is an engineering major for secondary education,” said Dr. Antoine Tonev.
He said that on the national external assessment of Bulgarian language and literature in the seventh grade, the average success rate of the students in SMG was 90.63, which is also a very high result.
Since I have been the director, the Sofia Mathematical High School admits 156 eighth-grade students in six classes. SMG again has the highest minimum score since yesterday and the last student to be admitted to the school from the eighth grade has a score of 484.500 out of the maximum 500 points. We now have a student with a score of 500 who has not been to SMG before, but is from the 125th “Boyan Penev” Secondary School, which is one of the strong schools with math results in Sofia, the director emphasized. The student chose to study in the class with mathematics, which is with informatics and English language.
Last year at the Sofia Mathematical High School we had four excellent students and they were our students, the school director recalled.
Dr. Antoine Tonev has a proposal for a change in the national external assessment in mathematics
The new Minister of Education and Science, Prof. Galin Tsokov, is very ambitious and we are very happy with his statements, because we have been writing and proposing changes in our education for years, said Dr. Antoine Tonev.
When asked what, in his opinion, should be changed in the mathematics exam, the SMG director replied that now the national external assessment of the subject is not very well done because there are many students in the seventh grade who have between 0 and 20 points , as well as many other seventh graders who scored between 95 and 100 points. In a normal external assessment, most students’ results should be in the middle of the spectrum, on the scale, with fewer children at the end. If you explain all this with the graph, it should look like a bell, but now it is the opposite. And this is not normal, and I see that the Minister of Education and Science Prof. Galin Tsokov has many ideas on how to change this, said Dr. Tonev.
“I have a proposal for three years, which is related to how one should apply to a mathematics high school. To be admitted to the classes with the “Mathematics” profile, to take either the mathematics olympiad from the district circle or one competition out of seven class, as is allowed for the natural sciences. In the natural sciences classes, students can apply with the olympiads in physics, chemistry or biology. It is normal with us, for the classes with the “Mathematics” profile, to also be able to, and then we would ease the national external assessment for all other students, which is at a more achievable level. This would ease the system, because we want to have a high average level, and if there are more students with 50 to 70 points, it would be very good,” said the SMG director.
2023-07-16 09:03:09
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