The abacus method to calculate numbers has become a rage among school students not to mention the visually-challenged students of Devnar School for Blind who bagged four prizes at a State level Competition that was held on January 20.

T. Andalu, (9th std.) and G. Satya Veni (7th std.) bagged the first prize while CH. Gopal, a 7th Std. and Yugandhar, 9th Std. students won the second and third prizes respectively in the level one competition.

Over 50 students are being trained in Abacus as a part of a brain developing programme in the Devnar School for Blind.

A teaching team led by G. Muthu Kumar, Director of Aloha, an abacus training centre has been at the task for the past two months.

“It is much more easier to do calculations using the abacus method and it does not take much time to arrive at the answer,” says T. Andalu, a student.

“The students are being taught abacus using the ‘Finger Theory’ where they use fingers for counting and calculating,” informs G. Muthu Kumar.

“Initially, the students are given an abacus each and a Tylor Frame which has 625 perforations and comes with an iron type that is used to recognize numbers,” he adds.

The questions are made in Braille format and are given to students for practice on a regular basis.