The Damascus Directorate of Culture launched the "Reading Challenge" competition for the age group between 12 and 16 years old today, Sunday, during the first session hosted by the Arab Cultural Center in Barzeh, in cooperation with "Dar Al-Rawad for Culture".
This initiative comes as part of the "Book Week" program, through which the Directorate of Culture aims to encourage teenagers to read and reinforce their connection to the book as a primary source of knowledge and character building. The first session included distributing books to participants and explaining the competition mechanism and its implementation stages. The book "Toba for Sham" was selected as the central focus of the challenge; it is a work comprising a collection of noble Prophetic traditions and sayings of the Salaf and scholars discussing the status and virtues of the land of Sham throughout history.
For his part, Alaa Al-Din Al-Ayoubi, director of "Dar Al-Rawad for Culture", clarified that the initiative falls within a cultural and intellectual project aimed at spreading awareness and enhancing knowledge among various segments of society, with a focus on introducing the emerging generation to the civilizational and cultural heritage of the land of Sham. Al-Ayoubi pointed out that this competition represents the launch of a broader project being implemented in several cultural centers, schools, and community institutions in Damascus, contributing to motivating teenagers to make reading a daily habit.
For his part, Muhammad Shihada, director of the Arab Cultural Center in Barzeh, emphasized the importance of restoring the status of the book and enhancing its presence in daily life, noting that reading has transcended being merely a means of acquiring information to become a necessity for building perception and developing intellectual and analytical skills in the individual. Shihada added that the reader possesses a higher ability to debate and form opinions based on knowledge, making them more aware and capable of facing intellectual challenges, stressing the commitment of cultural centers to continue launching initiatives that make reading a sustainable habit among youth.
On their part, several participants expressed their enthusiasm for participating in the challenge. Student Abdul Rahman Al-Sheikh Aboud from Idlib Governorate expressed his passion for reading external books, affirming that such events open wide horizons for students to acquire knowledge and develop their cultural reserves. This competition confirms the commitment of cultural institutions to developing cognitive awareness among the youth and establishing the book as a fundamental pillar in building thought and developing society.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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