Father-daughter duo’s free app helps students master arithmetic skills

Dr. Thomas Joseph, a former associate professor at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Udaipur, and his daughter, Emy Ottaplackal, an MBA graduate from IIM Kozhikode, are on a mission to help students with MyLQ, a free-of-cost learning programme for economically disadvantaged children.

Ms. Ottaplackal developed MyLQ in 2022 based on her training for the Common Admission Test (CAT). “We found that arithmetic skills were the key to cracking competitive examinations like the CAT,” she said.

Consequently, she started MyLQ, an online tool to help students master the arithmetic skills required in schools and competitive exams. Dr Joseph joined her, helping to start programmes across India. This year, they decided to redouble their efforts within Kozhikode. After discussions with Mayor Beena Philip and Krishna Kumari, the Town Planning Standing Committee Chair, MyLQ’s trial run was launched in February.

Three schools from Ms. Krishna Kumari’s Naduvattam division participated in the trial. The Naduvattam councillor said that the programme was free of cost for government schools and that she was pleasantly surprised by its reception. She said, “Since it’s similar to a mobile game, the students took a liking to it and their speed has improved.”

Sidharth K., a Class V student at Govinda Vilas Aided Lower Primary School, said that he liked the arithmetic programme. “I can solve problems faster now,” he said. His classmate, Safdar Hegal M.K., agreed, saying, “Now, I can do around 15 addition sums in 10 minutes.” Both students said that they did not find practising tedious. Ms. Krishnakumari said that she would be taking feedback from teachers in July to see how the progress had translated into the classrooms.

The trial run comprised a total of 11 schools under the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation and recorded an average of 211% improvement in single-digit addition among 1,775 users. Dr. Joseph hoped that government schools would adopt MyLQ to their arsenal of teaching tools. “Our goal is 100% numeracy,” said Dr Joseph. The duo hopes to implement MyLQ in more schools in the coming years as part of their project dubbed ‘Ganitha Nagaram’ (City of Arithmetic).

Earlier this year, the State Cabinet upgraded the Kerala School of Mathematics, Kunnamangalam, as a Centre of Excellence in a move expected to expand the institute’s research programmes. As the Kozhikode Corporation unveils new projects as part of its City of Literature tag, these initiatives show that mathematics has not been relegated to the back bench.