His Highness Sheikh Mohammed said: “Today, the Arab Republic of Egypt celebrated a generation of readers. Twenty million Egyptian students from the Ministry of Education and Al-Azhar Al-Sharif participated in this year’s Arab Reading Challenge.

“My salute to them, and my salute to Egypt, its people and its leadership. This is a generation carrying the banner of culture, learning and knowledge, and lighting the way towards a brighter future. We look forward to welcoming them to Dubai in October, alongside participants from more than 60 countries that joined us in this year’s Arab Reading Challenge.”

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed added: “I take pride in the millions of students across the world who embrace and carry forward the first divine command revealed to humanity — the command to ‘Read’.”