Egypt's Mayar, 11, beats 40 million pupils to win the Arab Reading Challenge
She read more than 60 books and will spend her Dh500,000 prize on a school library. A Tunisian primary school won Dh1 million.
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Dubai — An 11-year-old Egyptian schoolgirl, Mayar Othman, has been crowned champion of the 10th Arab Reading Challenge in Dubai, ahead of more than 40 million pupils from 60 countries.
Mayar read more than 60 books during the competition and wins Dh500,000. She plans to use it to build a library at her school, which she said would be a refuge for students looking for books. Reading, she said, had taught her to organise her time and balance schoolwork with books, and a real reader is one who influences their peers.
Africa on the podium
- Best school, and Dh1 million: Sidi Ameur Primary School, Tunisia.
- Second place went to Ghazal Tayem, 16, from Palestine, and third to Rayan Al-Sukari, 11, from Saudi Arabia.
This year's edition drew more than 40.2 million pupils, 138,426 schools and 161,507 supervisors. Launched in 2015 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, ruler of Dubai, it is described as the world's largest Arabic literacy initiative.
Sources: The National and Emirates 24|7, 29 October 2026.
