A new contest aimed at encouraging students to improve their speed-reading skills has been launched by the National Media Council (NMC) and the Ministry of Education.

Contestants in "The Radar of Reading" are required to read a number of articles from newspapers or parts of Arabic books within a certain period of time.

The ability to speed-read, complexity of grammar and spelling, as well as comprehension of the involved texts are among the criteria on which the judging panel will determine the winner.

The initiative is in line with the declaration of 2016 The Year of Reading in the UAE by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the directives of Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to make effective contributions to the year-long programme.

"The contest was launched as one of the NMC's initiatives to promote reading as a daily habit and a lifestyle among students. This is based on our belief in the importance of reading in sharpening life skills. The contest highlights the importance of investing time to increase knowledge and improve self-learning skills," noted Acting Director-General of the NMC, Mansour Al Mansouri.

The Ministry of Education takes a keen interest in engaging all schools in the UAE in efforts to achieve the goal of enhancing students' skills, including speed-reading, commented Marwan Assistant Under-Secretary for Academic Affairs at the Ministry of Education Ahmad Al-Sawaleh.