General Guidelines and Scheme of Conduct

The PMO is open to all high school and senior high school students. It shall be carried out in three stages:

1. Qualifying Stage (every October): The qualifying stage is a multiple choice exam between high school students in each area (Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, NCR) There will be one testing site in each of the regions.
2. Area Stage (every November): The area stage is a written competition between the students (in each area) who will qualify based on their performance in the qualifying stage.
3. National Stage (every January): The national stage is a written and oral competition between the winners of the area stage competition. This will be held in Metro Manila.

Test development (preparation, analysis and evaluation of questions and problems to be used in the competition) begins in August and continues throughout the year.

Participants’ Qualifications

Qualifying Stage

• ” This competition shall be open to all high school students in the country. Each of the participating schools may send a maximum of 30 contestants
• ” Any bona fide student of private or public secondary high schools as specified above with a final grade of 88% (or its equivalent) in mathematics in the previous school year may apply.
• ” Participants will be asked to pay a minimal amount of one hundred fifty pesos (PhP 150.00) upon registration to the PMO coordinator in their region.

Area Stage

• ” The participants with the top fifty scores per area (Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and NCR) will qualify for the area stage.

National Stage

• ” The participants from the area stage with the top twenty scores in national ranking will qualify for the national stage.

Format of the PMO Competition

Qualifying Stage

The qualifying stage competition is a 30 multiple-choice exam consisting of

• ” Fifteen questions worth 2 points each
• ” Ten questions worth 3 points each
• ” Five questions that will require answers only worth 6 points each

Area Stage

The area stage competition is in the form of a written exam consisting of

• ” 20 questions that will require answers only; and
• ” 3 open-ended questions that will require full solutions.

National Stage

This competition shall have two phases: the written phase and the oral phase.

• ” In the written phase of the competition, the contestants will be given 4.5 hours to answer 4 open-ended questions that require full solutions.
• ” In the oral phase of the competition, 30 questions are to be read to the participants.  These questions are to be answered within a specified time for each item.  This phase is open to the public.

Selection of Winners

Qualifying Stage

The answer sheets will be checked and scored by a team designated by the PMO Technical Committee. The checkers will be selected so that each one is not related up to a second degree of consanguinity or affinity to any PMO participant. None of them will be teaching in any secondary school in the country. Each paper will be checked and double checked so as to ascertain the correctness of the scores.

Area Stage

The answer sheets will be checked by a board of judges which consists of a team of college/university professors of mathematics who are not related up to a second degree of consanguinity or affinity to any PMO participant; and who are not teaching in high school.

Each correct answer in the first portion will merit 3 points. A complete and correct solution in the open-ended portion will merit 10 points. Partial points may be given in the open-ended portion as decided by the board of judges.

National Stage

Written Phase

The answer sheets will be checked by a board of judges which consists of four college/university professors of mathematics who are not related up to a second degree of consanguinity or affinity to any PMO participant; and who are not teaching in high school. A complete and correct solution will merit 7 points. Partial points may be given as decided by the board.

Oral Phase

The board of judges shall consist of three members appointed by the PMO Committee.

The thirty questions will be divided as follows:

• ” 15 questions worth 2 points each
• ” 10 questions worth 3 points each
• ” 5 questions worth 6 points each

The participants will be ranked according to the following basis:

• 70% of the score in the written phase plus
• 30% of the score from oral phase

The top three participants and their coaches will be given trophies and cash awards.