British wonder twins set new math milestone, youngest Brits to advance to high school

Category: International Published on Wednesday, 05 May 2010 11:10 Written by NNPA News Service Hits: 1863

(NNPA)—Paula and Peter Imafidon have broken existing records and are setting new records as they wait to hear about their high school placement. While that is something children around the world are doing, what makes it special for the Imafidon siblings is that they are only 9 years old.

The twins have attracted attention for being the youngest to pass the A/AS-level math papers at age seven. Then a year later, they became the youngest to pass the University of Cambridge’s Advanced Mathematics paper, according to the TimesOnline report.

PAULA AND PETER IMAFIDON

Dubbed the “wonder twins” by the British media, this brother and sister combo are just the latest overachievers to be parented by Chris and Ann Imafidon, who came to London, England, from Nigeria about 30 years ago. According to the MailOnline, the twins’ three older sisters all broke achievement records: the oldest won a government scholarship to take undergraduate courses at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University when she was 13, the next oldest was the youngest student to take undergraduate courses at a British university at age 11 and the one closest to the twins passed high school level math and statistics exams at age six.

The twins have attended a normal state primary school and received additional instruction through the Excellence in Education program, an initiative to help disadvantaged families. Their father said, according to the BBC News, “We’re delighted with the progress they have made.”

Heralding the work of the program, their father dismissed “genius” as the source of their accomplishments. TimesOnline reports him saying, “ Every child is a genius. Once you identify the talent of a child and put them in the environment that will nurture that talent then the sky is the limit.”

The twins are not resting on their laurels either. According to TimesOnline Peter wants to be prime minister and Paula a math teacher.

(Reprinted from the Afro American.)