Can you solve this? Singaporean school's maths problem goes viral

A logic and reasoning problem posted online by a news presenter has gone viral after it was mistakenly reported as a standard school question for Singaporean primary school students.

“This question caused a debate with my wife….and it’s a P5 question #trickquestion”, MediaCorp Channel 8 presenter Kennethjianwen shared on his Facebook page.

The puzzle centres around two friends, Albert and Bernard, who are trying to figure out the birthday of their new friend, Cheryl.

However, after the puzzle made headlines it was revealed the question was actually from a mathematics contest held in early April aimed at “Secondary 3” high-achieving 13 and 14-year-old competitors.

The Singapore and Asian Schools Math Olympiad (SASMO) executive director Henry Ong said the organisation was delighted the puzzle had provoked online discussion and generated a range of possible solutions, reported Singaporean website Mothership.

“Being Q24 out of 25 questions, this is a difficult question meant to sift out the better students. Questions that test on logical reasoning are common questions in Math Olympiads,” he said.

In another Facebook post, Kennethjianwen said he had been given the puzzle by a friend.

“I got the question from a friend’s niece, who is in P5 [Year 5] – why she is tackling it, I’m not sure,” he wrote.

“Apologies for the confusion, but do hope teachers who challenged those P5 kids can go easy on them if they fail to tackle a Sec 3 problem.”

Did you figure out Cheryl’s mysterious birthday? Solution below.

Have you ever been stumped by primary school maths? Share your thoughts in the comments below.