Word in UAE school libraries is ‘Arabic is cool’

Children from Grades 1 to 12 competed in the competition, which had been announced by the Vice President in 2015.

Mother and teacher talk to Aya Imad, 10, Grade 4, from Al Resalah International School of Science after her interview at the Arab Reading Challenge at the School of Research Science in Al Warqaa 4. Victor Besa for The National
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DUBAI // Two hundred and ­fifty pupils sat before judges on Saturday for this year’s Arab Reading Challenge for Dubai and Sharjah, eagerly hoping to be among the final 10 in the country.

Children in Grades 1 to 12 competed in the second challenge, which was launched in 2015 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.

The pupils read and discussed their book choices before a panel of experts, fighting for a place in this year’s final.

The names of the chosen children will be announced before Ramadan.

Syrian Maysaa Mourad took her daughter Christina, 8, to the finals at the School of Research Science in Mirdif.

“Everything in Syria is in Arabic but in Dubai, with schools, friends, in the malls, everything is English, so our kids are forgetting Arabic,” said Mrs Mourad. “My daughter knows everything in English.”

Although they speak Arabic at home, it has been a challenge to convince her daughter to read in her mother tongue.

“The kids should know their heritage and culture,” Mrs Mourad said.

Christina read 50 stories to progress in the competition and made notable improvement in her Arabic reading. Her mother was delighted the youngster was finally enjoying reading in Arabic.

“It’s easy for me now as I got much better at reading,” Christina said.

Dima Al Taki is head of Arabic at the Philadelphia School in Dubai, a private school where about 95 per cent of children are from Arab countries.

Their curriculum has eight hours of English language and six hours in Arabic, although Ms Al Taki said it was still a challenge to overcome the dominance of English.

“In a school running by the English curriculum, it’s ­difficult for the kids to get the vocabulary and understanding of the Arabic language,” she said.

“These types of competitions are important because the pupils become more motivated to read and reading is a door to understanding, so it helps us to encourage the students to read more.”

It is hoped the project will instigate a cultural renaissance.

“The more they read, the more they understand the language and culture from which they come,” Ms Al Taki said.

“It helps connect them to their roots and their culture.”

The Arab Reading Challenge is the largest ever pan-Arab reading project and provides monetary incentives for pupils, supervisors and schools.

Abdullah Al Nuaimi, the competition’s coordinator, said this year’s 300,000 UAE participants – almost double that of the first year – showed the rising popularity of reading thanks to the programme.

Last year, just 29,000 schools in the Arab world took part, compared to 40,000 this year.

“We want children to see reading as a form of entertainment or relaxation, outside of their academic school work,” Mr Al Nuaimi said.

He said that with people from more than 200 nationalities calling the UAE home, the competition had a vital role to play in preserving the language and culture.

“Since the UAE in general is quite a cosmopolitan country, we still need to remember that the Arabic language must be there in our daily life, speaking and reading.”

Judge Laila Zebdeh said that since last year, the reading standard had improved.

“The quality of the reading is better than last year and the numbers participating have grown a lot,” Ms Zebdeh said.

From critical thinking to the ability to discuss and analyse the books’ content, she said, students were more engaged.

“English-curriculum schools are very common here but this year, there are many more participating in the competition. Last year it was only a few schools.”

Ms Zebdeh said the challenge provided a positive future for the Arabic language.

“I think the future is shining for reading in the UAE and the Arabic language will become the first language in the UAE, inshallah.”

mswan@thenational.ae