Mangaluru: Can Srinivasa Ramanujan’s genius be honed in today’s classrooms? The Centre for Advanced Learning (CFAL) in Mangaluru aims to find out with its brand‑new “Search for the Next Ramanujan” Maths League—a seven‑round puzzle competition designed to cultivate creative problem‑solving, perseverance, and mathematical curiosity among students entering Grades 7 through 10.

A League That Rewards Consistency
Unlike one‑off Olympiads, CFAL’s Maths League places a premium on sustained effort. Participants choose between two tracks—Junior (Grades 7–8) and Senior (Grades 9–10)—and may sit for any six of seven monthly contests, with only their best six scores counting toward final rankings. Cleverly, CFAL refunds the ₹500 entry fee once a student completes five rounds, lowering financial barriers and encouraging broad participation.

Why It Matters

  1. Building a STEM Pipeline: Top performers will advance to CFAL’s rigorous Olympiad and JEE/NEET training programs, which have produced national‑rank holders in past years.
  2. Fostering Equity: By refunding fees after five rounds, CFAL makes sustained contest participation accessible to students from government and aided schools.
  3. Embedding Curiosity: The monthly schedule allows teachers to integrate puzzle‑style problems into regular lessons, magnifying the league’s impact beyond CFAL’s campus.

Key Details

  • Dates & Venue: Sundays from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm on 27 July; 17 August; 21 September; 19 October; 16 November; 21 December 2025; and 18 January 2026 at CFAL’s Bejai campus.
  • Prizes: The Ramanujan Award (overall top scorer) and the Harish‑Chandra Award (deepest thinker). Every student completing six rounds receives ₹1,000 in book vouchers.
  • How to Register: Scan the QR code on CFAL’s contest poster or visit cfalindia.com. Registration closes at 12 pm on 23 July 2025.

Voices from CFAL
“Mathematics thrives on repeated curiosity,” says Dr. Smitha Hegde, Principal of CFAL. “Our league makes that principle a practice, one Sunday at a time.” League convenor Chris Crasta adds, “Ramanujan taught himself from humble resources. Today, we provide the puzzles, mentorship—and even fee refunds—so nothing stands in the way of a child’s talent.”

Looking Ahead
By rewarding grit over singular brilliance, CFAL’s “Search for the Next Ramanujan” seeks not merely to crown champions but to nurture a community where perseverance—and not privilege—predicts success. Know a young mind eager for mathematical challenge? Point them to CFAL’s QR code before the registration deadline. The next great mathematician might just be one puzzle away.