Egyptian student Mayar Mohammed, aged 11, has won this year's Arab Reading Challenge during a ceremony held in Dubai. She received a prize of AED 500,000 after reading more than 60 books throughout the competition.
GazaI Teem, a 16-year-old from Palestine, secured second place, while Rian Al Zakri, an 11-year-old from Saudi Arabia, finished in third place. Mayar stated that she intends to use a portion of her winnings to construct a small library at her school. She noted that reading has significantly influenced her perspective and daily routine, aiding her in balancing schoolwork and literature.
According to event organisers, this year's edition drew over 40.2 million pupils across 60 countries. The participants included 74,062 students in the people of determination category, alongside 138,426 participating schools and 161,507 supervisors.
Additional accolades at the ceremony featured Fakhri Mayas from Jordan, who won the Outstanding Supervisor award and received AED 300,000. Seedy Amer Primary School in Tunisia was named Best School and awarded AED 1 million. Suhaib Majd from New Zealand triumphed in the category for Arab pupils living abroad, and Mahmoud Omran from Syria was honored as the Reading Champion in the people of determination category, receiving AED 200,000.
Organisers reported that since its inception, the Arab Reading Challenge has engaged more than 203 million pupils, one million schools, and 1.1 million supervisors.
