Right you are, and the unfortunate reality is no one particularly cares either. Common Core (in the US) adds to this in its focus not on the problem, not on the solution, not on the method(s) to approach the problem, but rather on a seemingly sensible and internally coherent explanation for arriving at some sort of (not necessarily correct) solution.
Please explain what you are talking about. If I were less charitable, I'd worry you were taking an uninformed potshot at a curriculum you haven't read up on.
What is "sensible and internally coherent explanation" if not a method to approach the problem?
In the IMO, points are awarded for sensible and internally coherent explanations (commonly called "proofs").
