The winners of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature‘s popular competitions for schools have been honoured at several inspiring awards ceremonies at the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU). The trio of competitions - the Oxford University Press Story Writing Competition, The Chevron Readers’ Cup and the Montegrappa Letter Writing Competition - allowed young people to show off their skills in story writing and the art of composing a letter, and to display their knowledge in the battle to see which schools came top in the reading challenge.
“Schoolchildren have faced so many uncertainties this year, and I know the return of these competitions has been a welcome boost to morale. The competitions have become an annual highlight in the school calendar,” said Ahlam Bolooki, festival director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. “As always, they have been very popular, with the OUP Arabic Writing Competition seeing a 25 per cent increase in the number of entries, participation in the Chevron Readers Cup remaining strong, and many beautiful handwritten letters received for our new Montegrappa Letter Writing Competition.”
The Chevron Readers’ Cup,
The Chevron Readers’ Cup gives teams of champion readers the chance to compete against other schools in a series of heats. Teams with the best recall and understanding of the books go through to the final round. For the first time ever, the challenge was conducted virtually, with students taking part in the qualifying rounds and finals in two age groups, primary and secondary, held in Arabic and English. The competitions were open to full-time students in the GCC (UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait). Teams answered questions on a selection of books provided by the Emirates Literature Foundation team and the winners were awarded trophies, medals, certificates, and book vouchers.
Renu Sharma, General Manager and Country Chairperson - Middle East Aviation and Joint Ventures at Chevron said: “Though we had to do things a little differently this year by staging a virtual contest, it certainly did not dampen the enthusiasm of the students, and it was wonderful as ever to see the enjoyment they get from taking part.”
English Winners
Primary Age Group
1. Gems UIS Jovial Juniors, Gems United Indian School AD
2. The Bookaholics, Sabari Indian School
3. The Bibliophiles, Our Own English High School
Secondary Age Group
1. Year 10 Superstars, Gems Metropole School
2. Reading Warriors, Delta English School
3. TMS – TEAM - S2, The Millennium School
Arabic Winners
Primary Age Group
1. Al Qalam, Emirates National Schools AlAin
2. Nojoom Ka’as Al Qurraa’, Dar Al Uloom Private School Falaj Hazaa AlAin
3. Mobdeaat Jumeirah, Jumeirah Basic Education School
Secondary Age Group
1. Alsawsanah Alsawdaa’, Al Hikmah Private School AlNuaimiah
2. Rowwad Al Qiraa’a, Dar Al Uloom Private School Falaj Hazaa AlAin
3. Shabaab Al Mostaqbal, Future International Private School
