(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) An Emirati girl, who read and summarised 50 books including novels by Victor Hugo and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, will represent the UAE in the grand finale of Arab Reading Challenge 2017.
On Monday, 15-year-old Hafsa Rashid Al Dhanhani was announced as the UAE winner in the second round of ARC. The Grade 10 student at Murbah Secondary School for Girls in Fujairah was selected from among top 10 contestants, who were narrowed down from 250 students.
The Fujairah girl will compete with other 27 finalists from across the Arab World in the final ceremony of this year's ARC, which will be held at Dubai Opera on October 18.
Congratulating Al Dhanhani, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said: "The more our children read, the more optimistic our future becomes. Our goal is to empower generations of educated and tolerant graduates."
"We will celebrate next week, at the Dubai Opera, the seven million students, 40,000 schools and 75,000 supervisors who participated in the Arab Reading Challenge across the Arab World and supported our mission. We will also honour the winning school with Dh1 million, and the highest-ranking students with awards amounting to Dh3 million."
Al Dhanhani, who read a wide variety of books for the contest, said that she aims to become a psychologist. "I love solving problems and helping people," said Al Dhanhani, who allocated an hour to read every day besides school work.
"Reading helped me expand my horizon and be ahead of my classmates who don't read. I learned so much outside the school curriculum."
Finalists across the region will compete for ultimate honours at the grand finale that will see the winner walking away with $150,000, and an additional $1 million award for the best school in the Arab world.
100 per cent rise in participants In the UAE, the total number of participants in the competition's second round increased by 100 per cent, with almost 320,000 students participating. Najla Al Shamsi, secretary-general of ARC, said the aim of the challenge is to reach 50 per cent of the students across the Arab World in the next five years. The competition has also seen a whopping 108 per cent increase in participation among Arab students living in non-Arab countries.
"Two years are now done, and three more to go. We hope to keep increasing in the number of participants every year to see a cumulative effort in bringing a better culture and educational scene in the Arab World," said Al Shamsi, urging the education sector across the Arab World to contribute to the efforts in promoting the culture of reading among children.
Meanwhile, last year's top 10 winners from each country will compete to read 75 books within the academic year through the newly-introduced ARC Diamond Round. Al Shamsi said the diamond round is to help winners to maintain the habit of reading even after the competition. Seven-year-old Mohammed Jallood from Algeria and Palestinian-based Talaie' Al Amal School were the winners of the 2016 Reading Challenge.
Meanwhile, Amina Al Sakb from Ras Al Khaimah Education Zone was awarded the distinguished supervisor award and the Emirates National School in Abu Dhabi received the best school award, beating out five other finalists.
Top 10 UAE finalists: > 1. Hafsa Al Dhanhani, Fujairah
> 2. Aisha Saeed Al Awadhi, Dubai
> 3. Haya Emad Hamdan, Abu Dhabi and Mariam Adnan Al Hammadi, Ras Al Khaimah
> 4 . Salama Mohammed Al Kaabi, Al Ain
> 5. Fatima Abdelrahman Al Nuaimi, Dubai
> 6. Shouq bin Saeed Al Mahri, Dubai
> 7. Safa Ahmed, Fujairah
> 8. Juwaireya Abu Baker, Ajman
> 9. Mariam Obaid Rashid Al Zaabi, Sharjah
> 10. Raneem Mohammed, Abu Dhabi and Fatima Al Amiri, Sharjah
KT Nano Edit Reading is believing
No technology can take away the pleasure of books. Real books. They continue to inspire and entertain millions despite the gadget boom. What's commendable is that the UAE is leading the charge with books. It's a kind of going back to basics - when you get the basics right, the rest will follow. A knowledge economy cannot flower without proper reading. So dump that device and grab a book.
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