Keralam student comes third in global Arab Reading Challenge held in UAE

A student from Keralam has secured third place globally in the 10th edition of the Arab Reading Challenge held in the UAE, representing India in the international category for countries where Arabic is not the native language.

Mohammed Shahansha, a student of Madin Academy at Malappuram, won the award at the competition organised under the leadership of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The winners were announced at a function held at the Dubai World Trade Centre on Thursday.

Shahansha will receive a cash prize of ₹8 lakh and a trophy. More than four crore students from 1,38,426 schools across 60 countries took part in the competition. Shahansha qualified for the international round after excelling in the national-level preliminary rounds.

Two other students from Madin Academy also qualified for the international competition. Shahansha impressed the international jury through his reading of Arabic books and his ability to analyse and present their themes and content.

Mohammed Shahansha (second from right) with other participants of the Arab Reading Challenge. Shahansha said the Arabic language teaching methods at Madin Academy helped him develop his reading and analytical skills. Suhaib Majid Mohammed, representing New Zealand, won first place in the same category, while Hala Osama from Malaysia secured second place.

Since its launch, the Arab Reading Challenge has attracted more than 203 million pupils, one million schools and 1.1 million supervisors, according to the organisers.