Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation joins hands with Ministry of Education to launch Qesaty contest

Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF), a member of Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, has actually signed up with hands with the Ministry of Education to launch the 'Qesaty' (Arabic for My Story) competitors to promote Arabic language and culture among Secondary and Preparatory level school students as well as school faculty and administrative staff in the UAE with the goal of keeping alive the country's cultural heritage and customs in the hearts of the people.

MBRF revealed the new effort at a press conference throughout the Nobel Museum Exhibition at Children's City in Dubai Creek Park, in the presence of His Excellency Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education; HE Jamal bin Huwaireb, Managing Director of MBRF; and media representatives. The competitors belongs to the Dubai International Program for Writing in the Youth Category, which presents school students of various ages to various kinds of writing.

On the occasion, HE Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi specified that the Ministry of Education will continue its efforts to support Arabic language, and expand the framework of its partnerships in this area with various entities, consisting of MBRF to bring back the splendor of the language. "To attain this, the ministry has actually launched a number of initiatives and events earlier to contribute to the development of Arabic language in all fields," he said.

HE Hussain Hammadi stated: "The 'Qesaty' competition reflects the ministry's keenness to secure and protect Arabic language as our identity in the modern world. This initiative is also aligned to the vision and guidance of our wise leadership to preserve Arabic language and literature in the fields of arts and sciences and uphold our culture and history.".

He mentioned that the 'Qesaty' competition will be a major tool to target talented students and influence them to develop their composing skills, especially in the field of narrative writing.

HE Al Hammadi expressed the hope that the competition will get comprehensive involvement from students and personnel in the field, and end up being the launch pad to prepare new writers and boost their capabilities in the field of composing and language.

Speaking on the event, HE Jamal bin Huwaireb stated 'Qesaty' competition has actually been released in line with the directive of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to mark 2016 as the Year of Reading to prepare a generation of book fans, and consolidate the nation's status as the capital of cultural and understanding content. The competition is lined up to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of MBRF, to introduce special programmes and events to raise awareness about the significance of Arabic language and its ability to produce quality literary work, he stated.

HE Bin Huwaireb described that the competition comes under the Dubai International Program for Writing, released by MBRF years ago to empower young talents who have the ability to write content in different locations of understanding, including science, research study, literature, novels and poetry. He stated the Dubai International Program for Writing has actually been supporting talented young authors to extend their reach to global levels through a variety of effective classifications. "Today we have introduced 'Qesaty' competitors as the primary step within the Youth Category, which is targeted at school students of various ages to boost their abilities in various sort of composing," HE Bin Huwaireb said.

HE Bin Huwaireb said the competitors includes the involvement of talented students and instructors from the Preparatory and Secondary levels of schools, and will help them build concepts and characters and empower them to develop integrated literary work in accordance with the required standards in short story writing.

The literary works in the competition will be selected by a committee of leading experts in the field through the joint cooperation of MBRF and the Ministry of Education. The terms and conditions and the application process will be explained through the sites www.moe.gove.ae and www.qesaty.ae. The competition offers 10 prizes for the winners, seven of them for students, and the other three for teachers and administrators, in both the Preparatory and Secondary levels.

The participants to the competition are needed to compose a short story based upon events connected to UAE heritage. The evaluation will take into consideration the technical construction of the story, and the language aspects, including narrative and dialogue. MBRF will arrange training sessions for the participants in the competitors, led by certified professionals. The Foundation will likewise release the winning works and support the authors in their journey of writing.