Thought Abacus, Connecting the World
An international federation of abacus and mental-arithmetic educators, founded in 1999. Twenty-two member states, one shared standard, from the first bead to the Advanced grades.
1999year PAMA was founded
One rod, many beads
Every member organisation is a bead on the same rod: the same levels, the same exams, the same competition. Select a bead to meet the member.
Australia · Melbourne
22 member states · 1 standard
The learning path
Students climb from Level 10 to the Advanced grades over four stages, first on the abacus, then with the abacus pictured in the mind.
See what each level covers, on the abacus and in the mind, with sample papers and exam information.
23 competitions, one stage
Each year a different member hosts the PAMA International Competition. These are the official yearbook covers, edition by edition.
No. 11999 · first yearbook
No. 2
No. 3
No. 4
No. 5
No. 6
No. 72005 · Singapore
No. 8
No. 9
No. 10
No. 11
No. 12
No. 132012
No. 14
No. 15
No. 16
No. 17
No. 182018 · Kuala Lumpur
No. 192019 · Suphanburi, Thailand- Nos. 20–22 yearbooks to come from PAMANo. 20–22
- Selangor, Malaysia2321 December 2025No. 232025 · Malaysia
- Upcoming24Moscow, 26–27 December 2026No. 242026 · Russia
Students from across the member states, on one stage, under one set of rules.
PAMA International Competition, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2018The annual competition →Students and teachers
Behind every bead is a student, and behind every student a teacher trained to the PAMA standard.
