The Tunisian President receives the twins Bisan and Bilsan Kouka, champions of the Arab Reading Challenge 2025, and confirms his pride in being crowned.

Tunisia, 26 October / WAM / His Excellency Kais Saied, President of the sisterly Republic of Tunisia, received at the Carthage Palace yesterday the twins Bisan and Bilsan Kouka, champions of the Arab Reading Challenge 2025, who will be crowned with the title during the closing ceremony that took place in Dubai to honor the first-place finishers in the ninth session of the largest reading competition in the world.
According to a statement by the Presidency of the Tunisian Republic, President Kais Saied expressed his pride and the pride of all Tunisian men and women in this coronation and offered his “warmest congratulations to the two winners who not only dazzled the audience, but the echo of their statements, distinguished by their well-constructed construction and the sweetness of their words, spread throughout the world. These statements that they made, and whose age was only two years older than the first decade, were combined with sequence, smoothness, and depth of thought.” And the eloquence and eloquence of speech in the Arabic language, the language of the Holy Qur’an, the language of Al-Dād, about which it was said that it was built on a foundation that makes its youth immortal, so it does not age or die.”
During the meeting attended by the parents of the two heroines of the Arab Reading Challenge 2025, the President of the Republic of Tunisia affirmed that “Bissan and Bilsan were ambassadors for Tunisia, and what a wonderful type of ambassador this is,” calling on them to do more.
The twins, Bisan and Bilsan Kuka, thanked His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, “may God protect him,” the “Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives” Foundation, those in charge of the Arab Reading Challenge, and the coordinators of the countries participating in the challenge.
The two students, Bisan and Bilsan Kouka, had arrived earlier at Carthage International Airport, coming from Dubai, where they were given a warm reception by their families, officials from the Tunisian Ministry of Education, and those concerned with educational and cultural affairs, in appreciation of their unique achievement, and their taking first place in the ninth session, which witnessed unprecedented participation by more than 32 million students, male and female, representing 132,112 schools and under the supervision of 161004 male and female supervisors.
The twins Bisan and Bilsan Kuka won a prize worth half a million dirhams, after claiming first place in the final stage that took place in Dubai and included the champions of the Arab countries participating in the qualifiers, while the student Muhammad Jassim Ibrahim from Bahrain won second place and a prize worth 100 thousand dirhams, while third place went to the student Maryam Muhammad Shamekh from Mauritania and received a prize worth 70 thousand dirhams.
It is noteworthy that the closing ceremony of the ninth session also witnessed the crowning of Sahar Misbah from Egypt with the title of “Distinguished Supervisor” and a prize of 300 thousand dirhams, and Rana Farid Salmi from Palestine won second place and a prize worth 100 thousand dirhams, while third place and a prize of 50 thousand dirhams went to Zahra Hamad Ibrahim from the Emirates.
Atka Bint Zaid School – First Circle from the Emirates, and Tripoli Al-Haddadeen School from Lebanon equally won the title of “Distinguished School”, and each school won a prize worth 500 thousand dirhams, while Ibn Khaldun Primary School – Al-Nafal from Saudi Arabia won second place and a prize worth 500 thousand dirhams.
The student Maria Hassan Ajeel from Iraq won the title of Champion of the Arab Reading Challenge 2025 in the People of Determination category, and the heroine won a prize worth 200 thousand dirhams. The student Basmala Salah El-Din Suleiman from the Arab Republic of Egypt came in second place and received a prize worth 100 thousand dirhams, while the student Zulfiqar Ali Sabra from Lebanon won third place and a prize worth 50 thousand dirhams.
Jihad Muhammad Hussein Fayed Murad from Italy won first place in the Communities category, with a prize worth 100,000 dirhams. Second place went to Baraa Radwan Al-Zaim from Brazil, with a prize worth 70,000 dirhams. Lilia Burhan from Austria came in third place, with a prize worth 30,000 dirhams.

By the end of the ninth session of the Arab Reading Challenge, the number of participants reached more than 163 million students, male and female, and the challenge recorded, across nine sessions, more than 927 thousand participants for Arab schools, while the total number of supervisors participating in nine sessions reached more than 877 thousand reading supervisors, male and female.

The Arab Reading Challenge recorded tremendous growth rates in the volume of participation, starting from the first session, which attracted 3.6 million students, all the way to the ninth session, which witnessed the participation of more than 32 million students, an increase of more than 795% over the first session.
The Arab Reading Challenge, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, in the year 2015, as the largest reading competition and project in the world, aims to enhance the importance of reading among participating students at the level of the Arab world and the world, develop mechanisms for comprehension and self-expression in a sound Arabic language, endear Arab youth to the Arabic language, encourage them to use it in their daily dealings, and open the door to the educational field. And parents in the Arab world to play a pivotal role in changing the reality of reading and instilling a love for it in new generations.
The challenge, organized by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives Foundation, seeks to consolidate the love of knowledge, reading and learning among new generations and provide them with the necessary knowledge to contribute to building a better future and refining their abilities and personalities.
The challenge also aims to build the value system of young people by introducing them to the values, customs and beliefs of other cultures, which consolidates the principles of tolerance, coexistence and acceptance of others, and encourages dialogue and cultural and human openness.

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