Egyptian girl Mayar Mohammed was named as the winner of this year's Arab Reading Challenge at a ceremony in Dubai on Thursday.
Mayar, 11, who read more than 60 books during the competition, won a prize of Dh500,000, while Gazal Teem 16, from Palestine, was named in second place, and Rian Al Zakri, 11, from Saudi Arabia, was third.
The winnings would help build a library for her school, Mayar told The National.
“I came from the lands of pyramids and civilisation. I’m the daughter of Egypt, the heart of the Arab world, I read more than 70 books and will not stop reading,” she said.
“I will build a small library in my school with the prize money, to be a shelter for every student searching for books to read.
“The books fill my head with ideas and build my character. The Arab Reading Challenge changed my behaviour – like organising my time, balancing between my study in schools and reading time.”
She spoke about what she learnt from the competition.
“I learnt how to transfer knowledge from books to an energy. The challenge taught me the real reader is not the one who carries the books but the one who is impacted or influenced by the books to create an impact among my peers,” she said.
Third placed Rian Al Zakri told The National how the challenge had helped him to broaden his horizons.
“It will remain best memory in my life. I want to thank Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid for this challenge that gave us the opportunity to explore the books and encourage millions of pupils,” he said.
“Books changed my mind and made me think deeper. Books are more important than scrolling on social media. It took me outside Saudi Arabia and introduced me to different cultures.”
Launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, in 2015, the competition is the world’s largest Arabic literacy initiative. Its mission is to encourage a love of reading, strengthen language skills and nurture young Arabs’ knowledge and character.
“Our congratulations to all participating students and all supervisors who contributed with us to spreading the culture of reading among the new Arab generations, a generation that heralds goodness, a generation that inspires optimism and renews hope in the revival of civilisation,” Sheikh Mohammed said in a post on X on Thursday.
A host of other winners were also announced at the awards ceremony in Dubai.
Fakhri Mayas from Jordan won Dh300,000 and the title of Outstanding Supervisor for her efforts in guiding and motivating pupils, while Seedy Amer Primary School in Tunisia won the Best School award, which came with a prize of Dh1 million.
In the category for Arab pupils living abroad, Suhaib Majd from New Zealand was named champion, while Mahmoud Omran from Syria won Dh200,000 and the title of Reading Champion in the people of determination category.
This year's edition of the challenge received entries from more than 40.2 million pupils from 60 countries, including 74,062 in the people of determination category, marking a 24 per cent increase over the previous edition. A total of 138,426 schools and 161,507 supervisors participated.
Since its inception, the initiative has attracted entries from more than 203 million pupils, one million schools and 1.1 million supervisors.
Organisers say the event promotes cross-cultural understanding, tolerance and coexistence, and equips pupils with skills to build a better future while promoting Arabic as a vibrant, living language worldwide.
