Shivayah Naidoo, 8, is representing South Africa in a maths contest in Thailand. Shivayah Naidoo, 8, is representing South Africa in a maths contest in Thailand.
DURBAN: MATHS whizz Shivayah Naidoo is to represent South Africa in the Global Association of Japanese Soroban and Mental Arithmetic competition in Thailand.
Shivayah, 8, has been doing the Abacus Maths programme since she was 4 while attending MBA graduate Tracy Hauptfleisch’s Abagility Maths Club.
Shivayah and her parents, Oreshken, Solina and younger brother Yahvi Naidoo, recently moved from Hillcrest to Mauritius.
She said she continued studying the Japanese technique of mental arithmetic with her club via Skype.
Shivayah, who attended St Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls in Kloof, is in class four (Grade 2) at the International Preparatory School in Mauritius.
“I’m very excited but also nervous,” she said. “Last year, I won the regional finals and was the top achiever in the nationals. I wrote a preliminary exam in South Africa in April and was invited to participate in the GAJSMA.”
About 400 children will gather in Bangkok to compete in the GAJSMA from today. They will have a six-minute test to complete 40 sums using an abacus, then a two-minute anzan test to complete 40 sums mentally, she said.
Although she excels in maths, her favourite subject is art. She said it was a way to express herself and allowed “me to be creative and think out of the box”.
She also enjoys tennis, the piano, singing and classical dance, and hopes to become a writer like her favourite author, Roald Dahl.
“My mom is my role model. She is kind and caring and never gives up - even when I want to. She says practise makes progress and every time I’m not good at something, I learn from that and do better next time. I always remember her words when taking part in competitions."
Shivayah said she was looking forward to spending a few days in Thailand and visiting her cousins in Dubai on their return.
Also off to the GAJSMA were: Ella Lorimer, Ryan Walsh, Kaydon Naidoo, Tyra Webb, Skyler Nienaber, Samishka Mundhree, Yahya Ballim, Zeya Rajput, Diya Sitaram, Duran Padayachee, Pranav Sewsunker, Vasilios Kapnias, Lauren Walsh, David Nienaber and Michaela Kapnias.