Wide participants from Syria in Arab Reading Challenge competition
The number of Syrian students participating in the sixth round of the Arab Reading Challenge initiative has reached 159,516 students so far from 1,676 schools in various governorates, according to the initiative’s general coordinator in Syria, Ali Al-Abbas.
In a statement to SANA, Al-Abbas noted that the submission for the initiative launched by the United Arab Emirates and in which Syria is participating for the first time will continue until the end of next March, after which the participating works will be evaluated and submitted to the final qualifiers in Dubai.
Al-Abbas asserted that the challenge takes the form of a competition to read in Arabic, in which students from different educational classes from public and private schools will participate.
The qualifying stages will begin according to approved standards at the level of schools and educational districts, then at the level of Arab countries, leading to the final qualifiers that will be held in Dubai during the month of October, according to Al-Abbas.
Al-Abbas pointed out that 2,310 participants finished reading 50 books, which is the last stage of reading before the committees’ discussions, noting that the number of participants whose participation was registered electronically is 22548 from the elementary, preparatory and secondary education levels.
For his part, Minister of Education, Dr. Darem Tabbaa, indicated that Syria’s participation contributes to developing students’ abilities in reading and expression skills, self-learning, analytical and critical thinking and enhancing their cultural awareness. He pointed out that participants can benefit from the electronic library that the ministry has made available to students for free, which includes various books.
Tabbaa stressed the importance of Arab cooperation in empowering the Arabic language and educational fields, considering that through competitions that encourage reading, the Ministry restores the book’s luster, particularly after the war on Syria, which affected some people’s continued reading.
Inas Abdulkareem