Commercial Bank completes 20 math camps for students

• Further extends its commitment to develop mathematical proficiency of students through Math Labs donated to schools

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon recently conducted Math Camps at three schools and donated Math Labs to four more schools under the Bank’s Sustainable Math Lab Development project. This has brought the total number of Maths Camps conducted by the bank during a two-year period to 20, benefitting approximately 1,000 students.

Conducted with the aim of creating an affinity for the subject among students and to dispel the belief that math is a difficult subject, the Math Camps are conducted in the manner of a residential sports festival spanning three days, requiring the students to work in teams as well as to think individually, resulting in the development of their mathematical as well as their team skills.

This innovative concept allows the students to come to terms with their fear regarding mathematics in a setting that is outside the traditional classroom. This settling enables the students to sharpen their understanding skills, making it easier for them to further develop their analytical and logical thinking capabilities.

The camps are conducted with the full involvement of the mathematics teachers of the schools and a panel of experienced mathematics teachers and former principals who possess extensive experience in coaching students. 

The students who participated in the camps since 2016 have shown noteworthy progress in their math exam results, with some schools recording close to an 80% improvement, the Bank said. The Bank’s Math Lab initiative, which so far has benefitted over 5,000 students, was inspired by the results achieved by the ‘Math Lab’ concept pioneered at the Miyenakandura government school, Passara, by former teacher and innovative learning materials designer H. A. Dharmasiri.

The CSR Trust of the Commercial Bank has also donated IT labs to 175 needy schools across Sri Lanka under one of its flagship community initiatives. The Trust’s education-related community projects also include its involvement in the Smart Schools Project that has enabled digital learning in 65 schools in the Western province.

Commercial Bank operates a network of 261 branches and 756 ATMs in Sri Lanka. The bank has won more than 30 international and local awards in 2016 and 2017 and has over the years received multiple awards as Sri Lanka’s Best Bank, Best Trade Bank, Strongest Bank and Most Respected Bank from a number of local and international institutions and publications.

Commercial Bank’s overseas operations encompass Bangladesh, where the bank operates 19 outlets, Myanmar, where it has a Representative Office in Yangon, the Maldives, where the bank has a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake and Italy, where the bank operates its own money transfer service.