Mathematics is an interesting subject — or at least it is expected to be around the world. However, if you hated math at school, it is probably because you grew up learning it in a boring, textbook-based environment.

Pakistan is not known for its prowess in math internationally, and lags behind many Asian countries in the subject. Students in Pakistan are often found complaining about difficulty in understanding the mathematical concepts, and the practical applications of the different formulae are almost never taught. It is a common observation that most of the time even teachers are clueless how concepts like probability and algebra can help design smarter roads that are capable of handling very large amount of traffic everyday.

To cater to this gap, the Dawn Media Group and EDeQUAL launched the Math Challenge this year, a national inter-school math competition for students of grades 7, 8, 9 and 10 to test and improve intellectual, analytical and problem solving skills using Math. The competition is based on a live game show format, and over 150 leading private and government schools and 7,500 students from across Pakistan have participated in the challenge.

It was heartening to see girls take lead in the competition with a big margin: during the Karachi regional round, for example, Habib Girls School participants cleansweeped in the group of classes 7 and 8 and won with a total of 140 points.

Students from the BVS Parsi High School were declared runner-ups in this group with 45 points.

On the other hand, Karachi Grammar School was declared Karachi's regional winners in the group for classes 9 and 10, while Happy Home School emerged as the runners-up in this group.

Top twelve teams from each of the two groups (for classes 7 and 8 and classes 9 and 10) across Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad will now proceed to the national finals, which will be organised at the Karachi School of Business and Leadership.

The regional competition consisted of several categories, including data problems, relationships, spaces, numbers, to name a few. The finals will be more challenging with a set of questions designed to test grip over math for students in both age groups.

The final list of qualifying teams include the following schools:

Group 1 - Grades 7 and 8

1. EMS High School (Islamabad)

2. Habib Girls School (Karachi)

3. Sacred Heart Convent School (Lahore)

4. Crescent Model School (Lahore)

5. BVS Parsi High School (Karachi)

6. Westminster School (Islamabad)

7. Siddique Public School RWP Boys (Rawalpindi)

8. Lahore Grammar School - Jr. & Middle JT Boys (Lahore)

9. Siddique Public PWD (Islamabad)

10. Sarghodian Spirit Trust Public School (Karachi)

11. City School - Capital (Islamabad)

12. Lahore Grammar School - 55 Main Gulberg (Lahore)

Group 2 - Grades 9 and 10

1. Karachi Grammar School (Karachi)

2. Chenab College (Jhang)

3. Lahore Grammar School - 55 Main Gulberg (Lahore)

4. EMS High School (Islamabad)

5. Happy Home School (Karachi)

6. Generation's School (Karachi)

7. The City School Boys North Nazimabad Branch (Karachi)

8. Bloomfield Hall JT (Lahore)

9. Beaconhouse School System North Nazimabad Cambridge Branch (Karachi)

10. The City School PECHS Boys (Karachi)

11. St. Joseph's Convent School (Karachi)

12. Westminster School ( Islamabad )

More details about the competition are available on their official Facebook page and website.