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The 9-year-old Moroccan girl wins the prestigious competition promoted by the Sheikh of Dubai. Mariam triumphed thanks to the reading of 200 books, an award that we hope will be a stimulus for the whole Maghreb.
Mariam the young winner
Mariam Amjoun won the prestigious prize at the Dubai Opera House on October 30th, triumphing in front of 10.5 million participants from 40 different countries. Mariam had to face in a very fierce final opponents much older than her, just 9 years old, managing to triumph thanks to her incredible passion for reading.

To participate in the competition it was in fact to deliver a 10-page essay for each book read during the year, Mariam delivered as many as 60 but said she had read over 200 this year. The girl, who was rewarded directly by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, was able to take home the prestigious $ 100,000 scholarship and $ 50,000 for her family. The girl’s words were: “I hope this helps all the other Arab kids to see in reading a” beacon for civilization “.
What is the Arab Reading Challenge and why is it important?
The Arab Reading Challenge was born in 2015 by the will of the Sheikh of Dubai, its intent is to counter the great illiteracy of the Arab world, especially of the youngest. Recent studies by the Arab Thought Foundation show in fact how incredible the disparity in the number of books read in the West compared to the Middle East is.

In fact, it is estimated that in the UK and the US children read an average of 11 books a year compared to the quarter page read on average by an Arab boy. The Arab Reading Challenge works directly on schools, every student aged 6 to 18 (on wikipedia says from 1st to 12th year of school) can participate and to do so must read at least 50 books within the year and write for each of they a 10 page essay. The competition offers highly coveted prizes for both schools and students, thus pushing more and more families to stimulate their children to read.
We hope it will be a great stimulus for the Arab world and especially for Morocco, which would have a lot to say.
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