7-year-old Farah is Arab Reading Challenge winner

Shaikh Mohammed with mohammed abdullah Farah and other winners of arab Reading Challenge at the Dubai opera on Monday. - Photo by Dhes Handumon

Dubai - Farah was selected from among 3.59 million students from 21 countries, who read over 150 million books during the challenge.

Seven-year-old Algerian boy Mohammed Abdullah Farah was on Monday declared the winner of the Arab Reading Challenge, launched by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Farah was selected from among 3.59 million students from 21 countries, who read over 150 million books during the challenge.
Eighteen finalists were tested on their ability to summarise and deliver the books' messages to the panel and audience.
The winning student read and summarised 50 books - in history, Arab literature, human development and biographies - over the course of last year.
Farah takes home a Dh550,000 ($150,000) cash prize, $100,000 of which he says will go to his university education.
"My parents encouraged me to read," said Farah, who added that he would like to pursue religious studies in the future. "I want to become an Islamic scholar like Mohammed ibn Ismail Al Bukhari."
During the closing ceremony, Shaikh Mohammed said reading is vital for the future, both of the children and of the world as a whole.
"Reading brightens minds and makes our youth winners," he said. "Their victory will not only be for themselves, but for their families, countries and nations, because they will grow to become our future leaders."

The quality of books mattered
Three out of 18 finalists were picked after being asked a series of tough questions by a panel of judges.
Under the competition's guidelines, each of the 50 books read by participants must be in Arabic. If Arabic was not their first language, this number is reduced to 25.
Muna Al Kendi, Events Manager at the Arab Reading Challenge, said the most important criteria that determined the winners was the types of books the students had read and summarised.
"The students were tested on their ability to summarise and deliver the book's messages to the panel and audience," said Al Kendi.
She noted that their critical thinking and personality were also part of the evaluation process.
"Many students we have today have read volumes, not just books. It was critical to test how they comprehended the book and deliver its message to people," she said.