7-year-old Syrian girl Sham crowned as Arab Reading Challenge Champion

Dubai, SANA- The youngest participant in this year’s Arab Reading Challenge, seven-year old Syrian Sham al- Bakour, on Thursday joined the pantheon of Arab reading champions, besting millions of Arab youth from across the world who participated in the annual Challenge .

Syrian Child al-Bakour won the award of the Challenge held in the United Arab Emirates in its sixth edition for this year with the first participation of Syria.

The 7-year-old Child al-Bakkour competed with 18 participants representing 18 Arab states.

22 Million students from 92 Arab countries and their communities have participated at the Challenge.

Representing her home country in the biggest reading challenge in the Arab world, al-Bakour displayed confidence and grace at such a young age. Her participation received widespread media attention for being the youngest contestant in the Challenge.

To encourage al-Bakour, a number of Dar El Salam School students gathered in Damascus today and watched, via video, the Arab Reading Challenge award ceremony.

The Challenge , kicked off in 2015, is the largest-ever Arab literacy initiative launched by UAE to encourage students to read, it challenges students to read as many books as possible (over 50) in one academic year.

ALI,Baraa