Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid, UAE vice president and ruler of Dubai, has hopes that his new initiative will encourage a million students in the region to read 50 Arabic books each a year.
Sheikh Mohammad announced the launch of the Arab Reading Challenge due to an obvious drop in interest in reading, which the ruler referred to as "a reading crisis whose consequences we see and feel every day in this region."
The challenge will also include $3 million in incentives for students, parents, and teachers, and the top school will be rewarded $1 million. The winning pupil will be awarded $150,000 with the bulk of the prize to go to their college education.
"Reading opens minds, magnifies hunger for knowledge, and instills the values of openness and moderation that define great civilizations," Sheikh Mohammad said.
According to the campaign's website, among its goals is to cultivate a sense of self-learning and critical thinking for students as well as enhance youths' knowledge and practice of the Arabic language.
Sheikh Mohammad launched the challenge at the School of Science Research in Dubai, where he also debuted his children's book, "Two Heroic Leaders" about late UAE ruler Sheikh Zayed and his father Sheikh Rashid, and read it to the students.
The Arabic Reading Challenge, which aims to have students read a total of 5 million books a year, is scheduled to start in October and run until May, when the winner will be chosen.
Participating students will be expected to fill out a registration form with their school supervisors and keep five diaries where they would write a small summary of each book they read. Then, students are subjected to oral interviews on different levels until finalists are chosen to represent their countries in Dubai.