Moroccan Student Qualifies for Final Phase of the Arab Reading Challenge

Rabat – Moroccan high school student Fatima-Zahra Akhiar has qualified for the final of the 2019 Arab Reading Challenge, aired on MBC TV since September 27.

The student, 15, qualified for the final phase of the competition along with seven other participants. The next episode of the show is set to be aired on Friday, October 18.

Akhiar is the only Moroccan participant representing Morocco at the fourth annual competition organized by the International Foundation of Mohammed bin Rashed Al Maktoum.

Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) reported that the participants will face new challenges during the last phase of the competition.

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Akhiar is a student at Cadi Ayyad High School in Tetouan, in the north of Morocco. The student qualified for the Arab competition after winning the national reading contest.

Last year’s competition was marked by the victory of Moroccan student Mariam Amjoun. The 9-year-old won despite being the youngest participant.

The Arab Reading Challenge attracts students from across the Arab world. The winner will receive an 11 million Emirati Dirhams prize purse, around $3 million.

The competitions’ website said that the challenge is the “largest-ever Arab literacy initiative.”

According to the website; “The competition starts every year in September until the end of March. Students work through five stages of the competition reading ten books and summarising their content in the challenge passports.”