Mohammed bin Rashid to crown 10th Arab Reading Challenge champions tomorrow

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, will crown the winners of the 10th Arab Reading Challenge tomorrow at 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 Arab Reading Challenge champion, alongside the winners of the People of Determination and community categories, the Outstanding School and the Outstanding Supervisor.

The overall champion will receive AED500,000, with AED100,000 and AED70,000 awarded to the second- and third-place winners, respectively.

In the People of Determination category, the first-place winner will receive AED200,000, followed by AED100,000 and AED50,000 for second and third places. The community category offers AED100,000, AED70,000 and AED30,000 for the top three places, respectively.

The Outstanding School will receive AED1 million, with AED500,000 and AED300,000 awarded to the runners-up. The Outstanding Supervisor will receive AED300,000, followed by AED100,000 and AED50,000 for second and third places.

The Challenge allocates AED11 million annually in prizes across its categories, bringing the 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, 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.