Reading Challenge launched in Egypt

A delegation from the Arab Reading Challenge has concluded a fruitful visit to Egypt during which it introduced the initiative to public schools and launched it in the Al Azhar Al Sharif institutes and schools.

Launched in September by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the Challenge is the largest Arab project to encourage students in the Arab world to read, with more than a million students committing to read 50 million extracurricular books during every academic year.

The project was rolled out following a meeting at Al Azhar in the presence of Najla Al Shamsi, Secretary-General of the Arab Reading Challenge, Dr. Abbas Shoman, Under-Secretary of Al Azhar, and around 700 representatives of Al Azhar across Egypt.

In her welcome address, Al Shamsi urged students to enter the reading competition to advance the vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid for grooming a well enlightened and informed generation. A team of the project made a detailed presentation on the initiative and its mechanisms and answered questions by attendees.

For his part, the Al Azhar official lauded Sheikh Mohammed's initiative, which he said was not alien to the UAE, a generous supporter of Al Azhar to enable it to deliver its message properly.

Later, the delegation briefed Education Minister, Al Helaly Al Sherbiny, and leaders of the education ministry from 27 governorates on the initiative.

The minister applauded the initiative as a ‘step in the right direction’ to spread the culture of reading in Egypt and the Arab World at large. He urged his ministry officials to attract and enroll as many students as they could to participate in the unique initiative.

The Arab Reading Challenge aims to encourage reading on a continuous basis through a comprehensive system of incentives and follow-up mechanisms throughout the academic year. A large number of monetary and motivational incentives are also offered to participating schools, students, their families, and supervisors from various parts of the Arab world, with the overall awards value estimated at $3 million (around Dh11 million).

The challenge also includes several rounds of evaluation and qualification at the level of each school, educational zone, country, and finally the Arab world. The challenge seeks to create a new generation with excellent reading skills and a thirst for knowledge.

The execution phase starts in September with co-ordination between the various participating schools in the Arab world, after which the 50 million book reading challenge will be initiated, extending from early October until the end of March 2016. The challenge contains five stages, each of which entails the reading and summarising of 10 books by participating students. This is followed by qualification stages at the level of schools, educational districts, Arab countries, and the final qualifications for winners on the Arab world level set to be held in Dubai at the end of May 2016.

The Arab Reading Challenge has a comprehensive system for incentives and monetary rewards. The winning student will receive $150,000, of which $100,000 will be in the form of a university scholarship and $50,000 in the form of a cash reward to the student’s family for their encouragement. $1 million will also be granted to the school with the highest level of participation in the Arab world.

The Challenge grants rewards worth a total of $300,000 to excellent teachers participating in the Challenge as supervisors, in addition to motivational incentives and prizes to participating schools and students exceeding a total value of $1 million.