Doha: The activities of the reading week organised by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education within the Reading Olympiad were launched in the country’s schools. The celebration coincides with the World Book Day and the Arabic Libraries Day.
The Reading Olympiad, in which public and private school students participate, includes two main activities: the reading week, and read and interpret competition.
The reading week, which is organized in all schools, through various activities, taking into account the precautionary measures and through remote visual communication technology, aims to spread awareness of the importance of books among students, and to instil the habit of reading in them from a young age, to become part of the components of their personalities and contributing to raising the average person’s reading in the State of Qatar by promoting books and reading, and educating students about books importance and role in building an educated and conscious personality, in addition to encouraging students to attend learning resource centres and benefit from their services, exchange ideas and experiences among members of participating schools, and activate participation all schools in events.
The week includes a variety of activities, with both public and private schools participating in all academic levels, where activities vary between storytelling, cultural lectures, poetry recitation competitions, discussion of different books and competitions for drawing the most beautiful cover of a story or book, as well as representative scenes and workshops.
Criteria for these events have been set to promote and spread the culture of reading, spread awareness of its importance and the value of books, in addition to promoting books in its various forms (traditional and electronic), directing students to invest their spare time by practicing literacy and cultural activities, enhancing the value of libraries in students hearts, and highlighting their role in spreading the culture of knowledge and information, consolidating the principle of teamwork, and strengthening cooperation between schools.
Organizing the activities of the Reading Olympiad comes from the vision of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, and in its belief in the importance of reading and providing students with reading skills, and preparing a generation capable of advancing the homeland and positive interaction with the current data and its informational and cognitive revolution.
Countries around the world celebrate the World Book Day, which falls on the 23rd of April every year, as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) in its meeting held in Paris in 1995 approved this date since that year, to be a day to encourage reading and preserve authors rights, encouraging authors, and the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (Alecso) decided that the tenth of March of each year be a day to celebrate libraries in all Arab countries, under the slogan Arabic Libraries Day.
