Arab Reading Challenge

The challenge was introduced as a response to a study that stated that Arab children read only 6 minutes a year.

In order to enter the challenge, children are encouraged to read books and summarise them in a series of five coloured 'passports', with their teachers checking the summaries.

[5] The headquarters of the challenge is the Dubai-based School of Research Science, with its principal, Najla Al Shamsi as its secretary-general.

The 2016 Arab Reading Challenge ran from September 2015 until March 2016 and was won by a seven-year-old Algerian student, Mohammad Farah, with the Talaih Al Amal high school in Palestine winning the $1 million funding award.

[7] The 2017 Challenge was won by Afaf Raed Sherif, a 17-year-old Palestinian student, selected from the five finalists by a jury and a popular vote among attendees at the finals ceremony.

[9] The youngest of the five finalists in the 2018 Arab Reading Challenge was the winner: 9 year-old Mariam Lehsen Amjoun from Morocco took home the Dhs 500,000 prize money.

The Challenge was formally opened up to a wider international audience for the first time and a new award was introduced for a student from a non-Arab country, won by Tasneem Aidi from France.