Dubai – Masaader News
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai crowned today Palestinian student Afaf Raed, the winner of the second edition of Arab Reading Challenge, the Middle East’s largest initiative that encourages reading, in the presence of Crown Prince of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and Deputy Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
H.H. Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development; and Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Secretary-General of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives.
During the event, Sheikh Mohammed announced the challenge to be a global challenge, where he invited the Arab diaspora to join the next edition of the challenge. “We want to gather all Arabs from around the world in the Arab Reading Challenge,” His Highness said. “The Arab Reading Challenge unveiled the passion of our kids with reading.. We are a the nation of Reading… And it actually does read.”
His Highness expressed his pride of the success of the challenge; he further said that when more than 7 million person participate in the challenge, we know that we are on the right track. “The real winner is the Arab World and the Arab youth who is equipped with the power of knowledge and books,” he added.
Afaf Raed was announced the 2017 laureate, outshining more than seven million Arab contenders who were vying for the coveted prize of $150,000. $100,000 of which will go to her university education and $50,000 to his family for their encouragement.
Al Iman School from Bahrain won $1 million for its reading initiatives where $100,000 will go to its principal, $100,000 to the outstanding supervisor who urged students to participate in the challenge, and the remaining $800,000 to the school.
The top 20 were also awarded and honoured with rewards in the challenge that gave away Dh11 million worth of prizes.
Afaf Raed also outperformed the 16 finalists who were further narrowed to five after the jury made the shortlist based on participants’ comprehension of text and ability to communicate accurately in Arabic; critical and creative thinking; and general knowledge.
Seven-year-old Mohammed Jallood from Algeria and Palestinian-based Talaie’ Al-Amal School were the winners of the 2016 Arab Reading Challenge.
While the challenge attracted 3.59 million students in 2016, it saw double the participation this year with over 7.4 million students, 75,000 supervisors from 41,000 schools in 25 countries.
Six schools made it to the finals where $3 million worth of prizes were awarded to finalists and winners.
During the ceremony, Sheikh Mohammed honoured the parents of Fatima Ghulam, 17, who passed away earlier in a car accident while making her way to the finalists of the Arab Reading Challenge in Algeria. Sheikh Mohammed had ordered a library to established after her name.
Launched in September 2015, The Arab Reading Challenge became the largest pan-Arab project that aims for a million students in the Arab region to read 50 million books a year.
Focus Keywords
#Dubai Masaader News #Arab Reading Challenge #Miscellaneous Masaader News #UAE #