(Updated in October 2024: The new version of the certificate of WAAMA has been printed, with the number starting from NO. 03001. All member units are welcome to actively participate in the pilot program.)

The Second Meeting of the Fifth Standing Council of the World Association of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic (hereinafter referred to as the “WAAMA”) reviewed and adopted the revised Measures for Grade Identification on Abacus and Mental Arithmetic of the WAAMA (for Trial Implementation) (hereinafter referred to as the “Trial Measures”) on September 3, 2019. The Trial Measures was promulgated and came into effect on November 15, 2019. To facilitate the implementation of the Trial Measures and popularize the WAAMA grade identification certificate, the WAAMA, with the support of relevant institutional members, has redesigned and reproduced the original certificate according to international principles, and plans to carry out the following special scheme for launching the pilot of the new-edition certificate in selected institutional organizations.

I. Pilot Principles

According to the goals and management requirements of the Trial Measures, we shall adhere to the principle of combining authority, flexibility, exploration and popularization, and take the new-edition certificate as a breakthrough to build an international brand of the WAAMA abacus and mental arithmetic grade identification system.

II. Pilot Goals

We shall leverage the use and promotion of the new-edition certificate to explore the establishment of a full-process grade identification management system ranging from application and implementation to issuance, so as to adapt to and meet the objective needs of institutional members for grade identification work and certificates, and to improve the international awareness, recognition and popularity of the WAAMA certificate.

III. Pilot Objects

All institutional members registered with the WAAMA (except members of the Chinese Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association) can apply to participate in the pilot.

IV. Contents of the new-edition certificate

The new-edition certificate, mostly in English and partly in both Chinese and English, includes the following contents:

1. Name, emblem and official seal of the WAAMA as well as the President’s signature.

2. Name of grade identification organizer.

3. Name of identifier, year of identification, and identified grade.

4. A serial number (in order of 00001, 00002, ....) on each blank certificate.

5. An 8-digit certificate number on each certificate. Numbering rules: The first 3 digits are country or region codes, which are composed of three letters of the abbreviation of each country (or region); the 4th digit is an identification code, either a figure or a letter, to identify different pilot organizations in the country or region; the last 4 ones are the serial numbers of certificates independently written by the pilot organizations: they are required to start from 0001 and be numbered consecutively, with no figure to be skipped in the middle. If the pilot organization is the Australia Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Inc., and the WAAMA designates its identification code as "1", the number of its first certificate is AUS10001, the number of its second is AUS10002, and so on.

6. The new-edition certificates will be printed by the WAAMA and mailed to the pilot organizations free of charge. See Appendix 3-1 for the Sample of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Grade Identification Certificate of the WAAMA.

V. Organization and Management

1. Organizers

The pilot organizations shall organize the management of the grade identification work of its region or members.

2. Administration of grade identification

The pilot organizations shall be responsible for the whole process of each grade identification and design a reasonable process according to relevant regulations and requirements. The process involves application for grade identification, examination room arrangement, identifier assignment, test paper printing and evaluation, qualified-personnel registration, filing management, certificate printing and issuing.

3. Test papers

(1) The pilot organizations shall submit the abacus and mental arithmetic grade identification plan to the WAAMA Secretariat one month before organizing the grade identification examination;

(2) The WAAMA Secretariat shall prepare and send out special test papers (electronic version) for identification according to the declared grades;

(3) The pilot organizations shall assign dedicated personnel to take charge of the printing, storage of test papers and so on, and strictly keep them confidential;

(4) The pilot organizations shall organize the identifiers of schools or institutions (non identification objects) to carry out marking, review and appraisal after the test.

4. Grade identification certificates

(1) The identification organizers shall fill the number of certificates expected to be required for the first pilot in the Application Form for Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Grade Identification Certificates of the WAAMA (see Appendix 3-2) and submit it to the WAAMA Secretariat;

(2) The WAAMA Secretariat shall print blank abacus and mental arithmetic grade identification certificates in the numbers required by the pilot organizations, and mails them to those units after registration by number;

(3) The pilot organizations shall print the qualification certificates according to the relevant information of qualified personnel, register the List of Issuance of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Grade Identification Certificates of the WAAMA (see Appendix 3-4), and issue certificates;

(4) To facilitate the management and tracking of the certificates, the pilot organizations shall fill in the Report on the Issuance of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Grade Identification Certificates of the WAAMA (see Appendix 3-3) at the end of the year to feed back information on the issuance of the certificates within the year to the WAAMA. The pilot organizations need to apply for the certificates at least one month in advance and fill in the application form, which will be mailed by the WAAMA Secretariat on demand.

VI. Pilot Schedule

1. Pilot application. Institutional members wishing to participate in the pilot may apply to the WAAMA Secretariat either in writing or orally for registration.

2. Pilot date. From the date of promulgation of this scheme to December 31, 2021.

3. Pilot summary. The pilot organizations shall, by December 31, 2021, make a detailed summary of the pilot work in the unit or in the region (including the degree of recognition of schools, parents and students for the new-edition abacus and mental arithmetic grade identification certificate, the results, existing problems, and improvements needed), prepare a summary report on the pilot work and submit it to the WAAMA Secretariat.

Appendixes:

1. Application Form for Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Grade Identification Certificate of the WAAMA

Download：附件1.doc

 March 9, 2020