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Reem Adel Al Zarouni was declared the UAE champion of the Arab Reading Challenge in its ninth edition, on Tuesday, July 1.

The Emirati student, was among the 800,000 students who participated in the UAE challenge to qualify for the final round.

Reem now stands the chance to win the Arab Reading Challenge title and receive the Dh500,000 prize.

The winner was honoured by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Sarah Al Amiri, the UAE’s Minister of Education.

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It is the largest reading challenge of its kind in the world. The ongoing ninth edition sees participation from 32 million students from 132,000 schools across 50 countries.

Launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, the ARC encourages students to read as many books as possible — over 50 — in a single academic year.

“Books carry within their pages the promise of changing destiny. Today, we celebrate reading not only as a cultural act, but also as a force that ignites the spark of ambition in our children,” said Sarah Al Amiri, the UAE’s Minister of Education.

Sheikh Mohammed, stated on his X account: “The most honourable language, the vessel of our culture, the symbol of our civilisation, the slogan of our unity and history, the immortal Arabic language, it has no childhood, nor old age, preserved by God's preservation.”

Shaikh Mohammed lauds progress of Arab reading challenge UAE: Sheikh Mohammed praises teen who overcame odds, visually impaired student for winning Arab Reading Challenge

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