Peaking a 96 per cent extent of reading, with an average of 20 Arabic books and 10 foreign language books, Lebanon topped 22 Arab League countries in reading. It was followed by Egypt, Morocco, the UAE, Jordan and trailed by war-torn Somalia at 1 per cent (and one Arabic and English books) to balance the Arab Reading Index at an average of 35 hours per year. The development is contrary to the much falsely publicised claim that Arabs read for only six minutes a year.
The results of the 2016 index were announced on Tuesday, the second day of the Knowledge Summit 2016. The summit, which was organised by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation (MBRF) at the Grand Hyatt Dubai hotel, closes today.
Egypt stood at 97 per cent but with 17 Arabic books, that is three less than Lebanon; Morocco at 92 per cent; UAE 81 per cent and Jordan 74 per cent.
While releasing the report, the Managing Director of MBRF, Jamal Bin Huwaireb, said the Arab Reading Index was the first of its kind in the region.
“It is a scientific and standardised tool that tracks reading patterns in the Arab World, all in a bid to assign quantifiable numerical data to the process of cultural development in the region.”
He was flanked by the Chief Technical Adviser of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Dr Hany Torky, and Professor at the Higher Institute of Education and Continuous Training in Tunisia and main author of the Arab Reading Index, Dr Najoua Ghriss.