Ahmad Faisal Ali, a Grade 9 student at Zayed Education Complex in Al Barsha, Dubai, was crowned the nation’s best young reader after seeing off competition from 700,000 fellow learners, at the UAE Arab Reading Challenge at a ceremony held at Dubai World Trade Centre.
Ahmed now stands the chance to win the Arab Reading Challenge title and receive the Dh500,000 prize. He will go on to represent the Emirates in the global grand final of the eighth annual event later this year, which has attracted a record 28.2 million entrants from 50 countries.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, wrote on X, “I am incredibly proud of the 700,000 students across the UAE who participated in the Arab Reading Challenge, with many completing the challenge of reading 50 books throughout the academic year.”
The Arab Reading Challenge was launched by Sheikh Mohammed in 2015 to encourage 1M young people to read at least 50 books in a year.
The annual winner is selected based on the pupil’s ability to articulate general knowledge, their critical thinking and communication skills, plus the diversity of books they have selected.
