READING WINNER’S TEARS WIN VP’S HEART
In a heartwarming scene, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, VicePresident and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, hugged Mariam Amjoun, 9, and used his ghutra (national headwear) to wipe her tears after the Moroccan was declared the Arab Reading Champion for 2018 at Dubai Opera on Tuesday. Amjoun took home Dh500,000 and a trophy. —
dubai — Moroccan Mariam Amjoun, 9, broke into tears when she was declared the Arab Reading Champion for 2018, after beating over 10.5 million students from 44 countries who collectively read over 250 million books to win the grand prize.
In a heartwarming scene during the final ceremony, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, used his ghutra (national headwear) to wipe away her tears before the crowd broke in cheers and applause.
Sheikh Mohammed awarded the girl on stage with a trophy, as she took home the Dh500,000 cash prize in the challenge that dished out Dh11 million worth of prizes.
Amjoun outperformed five finalists with her answers to the judging panel on stage during the final ceremony that saw the audience casting their votes to help pick the Arab Reading Champion. She was selected based on her comprehension of the 50 books she read, her ability to communicate accurately in Arabic, critical and creative thinking, and general knowledge.
Al Ekhlas School from Kuwait won the Dh1 million Outstanding School prize, ahead of 52,000 schools, for its diverse reading initiatives and programmes that encouraged students to take up books at a young age. Out of 86,000 supervisors, Aisha Al Tuwairki from Saudi Arabia bagged a Dh300,000 prize for being the Outstanding Supervisor.
Sheikh Mohammed congratulated the winners and said: “We bet on a generation of readers. We bet on the 10 million students who read 50 books each in one year. We trust that their minds and knowledge will change our societies for the better. We place our hopes on them, and through them, we will reignite our civilisation’s development.”
Speaking to the media on the sidelines, Amjoun said she expected the win. “I have been preparing for the challenge by reading, summarising, and analysing books since 2017. Some of them were hard to comprehend, especially history books, but a challenge has to be overcome,” said Amjoun.
Amjoun grew up with books ever since her parents, both teachers, read to her as a child. She said she loves reading books that address a scientific, historical or social issue. “Reading will save nations drowning in illiteracy and poverty. Reading is a hospital to the mind.”
The girl said she aims to be an architect like the distinguished Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid who passed away in 2016.
Meanwhile, Abdullah Al Nuaimi, project manager at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), said the challenge aims to make reading a lifestyle. “When a school wins the challenge, the other schools from Arab countries will take it as a role model to enhance their performances for the next year. The Arab Reading Challenge (ARC) isn’t just a prize, the work starts after the event,” said Al Nuaimi.
The third edition of the Arab Reading Challenge witnessed a 25 per cent increase in participation over the previous year that reached 7.4 million students from 25 countries, competing to win Dh11 million worth of prizes. The first round of the challenge had attracted 3.59 million students in 2016.
For the first time, this year’s edition opened doors to Arab students from non-Arab countries, bringing up the number of countries to 44, compared to last year’s 25.
Launched in September 2015, ARC became the largest pan-Arab project that aims for a million students in the Arab region to read 50 million books a year.
Seven-year-old Mohammed Jallood from Algeria and Palestine’s Talaie’ Al Amal School were the winners of the 2016 Arab Reading Challenge. Seventeen-year-old Palestinian Afaf Raed and Al Iman School from Bahrain were last year’s champions.