Dubai: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, will crown the winners of the 10th Arab Reading Challenge tomorrow (Thursday, 29/10/2026) during the closing ceremony at Dubai World Trade Centre.
The 10th edition has attracted a record 40,286,428 students from 60 countries, including 74,062 People of Determination, marking a 24% increase over the previous edition. A total of 138,426 schools and 161,507 supervisors participated.
The ceremony will honour the 2025 Arab Reading Challenge champion, alongside winners in the People of Determination and community categories, as well as the Outstanding School and Outstanding Supervisor.
The overall champion will receive AED500,000, while the second- and third-place winners will receive AED100,000 and AED70,000, respectively.
In the People of Determination category, the first-place winner will receive AED200,000, followed by AED100,000 for second place and AED50,000 for third. The community category offers AED100,000, AED70,000 and AED30,000 to the top three winners, respectively.
The Outstanding School will receive AED1 million, with AED500,000 and AED300,000 awarded to the second- and third-place winners, respectively. The Outstanding Supervisor will receive AED300,000, followed by AED100,000 and AED50,000 for second and third place.
The Challenge allocates AED11 million annually in prizes across its categories, bringing total prize money over 10 editions to AED110 million.
Since its launch by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid in 2015, the initiative has attracted more than 203 million student participations, over 1.065 million school participations and more than 1.193 million supervisor participations.
Participation has risen by approximately 1,019%, from 3.6 million students in the inaugural edition to more than 40.28 million in the 10th edition. The ninth edition attracted 32.231 million students from 50 countries, while the eighth and seventh editions recorded 28.2 million and 24.8 million participants, respectively.
The Arab Reading Challenge, described as the world’s largest reading competition and initiative, aims to promote reading, strengthen Arabic language skills, foster a love of knowledge and encourage cultural understanding among younger generations.