The key facts
- The winner of the Arab Reading Challenge was 11-year-old Mayar Mohammed from Egypt with a prize of 500,000 dirhams
- More than 40.2 million students from 60 countries took part in the 2026 season — a 24% increase over the previous edition
- The best school was named Seedy Amer Primary School (Tunis) with a prize of 1 million dirhams
Winner from Egypt
The award ceremony for the latest season of the Arab Reading Challenge was held in Dubai on Thursday, October 29. The winner was named as 11-year-old Mayar Mohammed from Egypt, who read more than 60 books and received the main prize of 500,000 dirhams. The National reported this. Second place went to 16-year-old Ghazal Tim from Palestine, and third to 11-year-old Rayan Al-Zakari from Saudi Arabia.
What the prize will be spent on
Mayar told the publication that she wants to spend her winnings on creating a library at her school — 'a refuge for every student looking for books.' According to her, the competition changed her habits: it taught her to manage her time and balance studying with reading. 'A true reader is not someone who carries books around, but someone whom books have influenced so deeply that they create an effect among their peers,' The National quoted her as saying. Rayan Al-Zakari, who took third place, noted that books are 'more important than scrolling social media' and introduced him to different cultures.
The scale of the competition and other awards
The competition was launched in 2015 by UAE Vice President and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid and remains the world's largest initiative to promote reading in Arabic. In the current season, more than 40.2 million students from 60 countries submitted applications — 24% more than in the previous edition; 138,426 schools and 161,507 supervisors took part, with 74,062 participants in the category for people of determination. Since its founding, the total number of participants has exceeded 203 million students, 1 million schools, and 1.1 million supervisors. In April, Sheikh Mohammed had already cited a figure of 40 million participants, and at the end of the season he confirmed the growth in a post on X, congratulating the students and supervisors.
Who else received prizes
In addition to the three main prize winners, the awards were distributed as follows: Fahra Al-Mayas from Jordan received 300,000 dirhams and the title of best supervisor, Seedy Amer Primary School from Tunisia won the 'Best School' award with a prize of 1 million dirhams, Suhaib Majd from New Zealand became the champion among Arab students living abroad, and Mahmoud Omran from Syria received 200,000 dirhams as the reading champion in the people of determination category. The organizers name the competition's goals as fostering a love of reading, strengthening language skills, intercultural understanding, and promoting Arabic as a living world language.
