Egypt’s President Honors Mayar Othman After Winning Global Arab Reading Challenge

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi on Wednesday, 4 November, awarded the Medal of Excellence, Second Class, to Mayar Othman, the Egyptian student who won the 10th Arab Reading Challenge.

Othman’s parents, Mohamed Othman and Mai Abdel-Aziz, attended the meeting along with Education Minister Mohamed Abdel-Latif. The presidential spokesman, Mohamed El-Shennawy, said el-Sisi held her up as a model for others and credited her family with creating the supportive environment behind her success.

The president urged her to keep studying and to look after the Arabic language, and called for stronger command of Arabic. He said honoring her reflected the state’s commitment to promoting gifted young people.

The recognition comes amid a broader push on Arabic instruction. Last month, Abdel-Latif reaffirmed that Arabic, history and religion must be taught in all schools, including international ones. Weeks earlier, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly cautioned that neglecting Arabic in international schools endangers national identity.

Othman was crowned on 29 October in Dubai, after qualifying rounds involving more than 40 million students from 60 countries. She received a prize of AED 500,000 (USD 136,147). On Sunday, 1 November, Egypt named her a reading ambassador for the 58th Cairo International Book Fair, whose last edition drew a record 6.2 million visitors.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) figures released in May, the share of students with weak reading and writing skills fell from 45.5 percent in 2025 to 13.9 percent in 2026. A U.N.-backed review also praised a national Arabic-skills program run by the ministry and UNICEF Egypt.

El-Shennawy said Othman recited a line of poetry for the president, and a commemorative photograph was taken. She thanked el-Sisi and said his support would encourage her, and other gifted young people, to aim higher and make Egypt proud.