Participants at the 7th Arab Reading Challenge. Photo: KT file

The 8th Arab Reading Challenge 2024 has witnessed record participation with over 28 million students, in what is a 13.7 per cent increase compared to last year figures. Nearly 24.8 million students had competed in the challenge last year.

Touted as the world’s largest project to promote reading among students, 229,000 schools from 50 countries are taking part in this year’s challenge that is under 154,000 supervisors.

“We believe reading is a life changer… We believe it can create generations that are different… and will open wide the doors to knowledge and civilization. We thank all participating countries and wish millions of students a wonderful life with reading,” said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, as he reviewed participation figures in the challenge.

Community impact

Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Secretary General of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), said the Arab Reading Challenge initiative reflects the Dubai Ruler’s vision “for a comprehensive Arab knowledge renaissance through reading, through promoting the status of the Arabic language, and by being open to the cultures of the world”.

“The constant increase in participation numbers is clear evidence the initiative has succeeded in reaching all students across the Arab world as well as Arab communities abroad,” he added.

Final qualifiers

Organised under the umbrella of MBRGI, the 8th Arab Reading Challenge kicked off the final country-level qualifying rounds.

Country-level reading champions will be announced by the end of these rounds, who will move on to compete against each other for the championship title.

For the challenge, students need to read and summarise the content of 50 books to compete in the qualifying rounds that move up from the class and then school levels up to the country level.

Outstanding reading champions and outstanding schools at the country level will be selected based on rigorous criteria.

Specialised committees work closely with the Arab Reading Challenge committees to select winners at the education zone and governate levels, until the top 10 reading champions as well as champion from each country are selected. These who then move to the final qualifying stage to win the Arab Reading Challenge title.

Prizes

Winner of the Arab Reading Champion title will receive an award of Dh500,000 to continue their journey of knowledge.

Dh1 million is presented to the outstanding school, helping improve its capabilities to invest in further driving the practice of reading as a daily habit.

Another Dh 300,000 award will be presented to the outstanding supervisor so they can continue to inspire and mentor future generations.

The reading champion selected at the Community champions will be awarded Dh100,000. This category is open to Arabs living abroad and non-Arabs learning the Arabic language.

Increasing participation

Year after year, the Arab Reading Challenge has attracted increasing number of students. The first edition in 2015 saw the participation of 3.6 million students from 19 countries, while the 7th edition in 2023 attracted 24.8 million students from 46 countries.

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