Winners of Oxford’s third reading contest announced

The Oxford University Press (OUP) announced the names of the national winners of its third Oxford Big Read (OBR) competition, a highly successful reading programme launched by the OUP in 2015 in schools across Pakistan, said a press release of the department on Thursday.

The idea behind this unique project is to introduce school children to quality reading materials and to inculcate in them a life-long love of reading, leading to appreciation of the written word, and better learning and critical thinking skills.

Students who participated in the competition were required to read Oxford books and write reviews on them. Now in its third year, the reading contest, aimed at primary and secondary school students, received an overwhelming response in the form of around 4,000 entries. As many as 200 schools from 31 different cities of Pakistan participated in the competition. The entries were received from three different levels:

Level 1 (Classes 1 - 3), Level 2 (Classes 4 - 6), and Level 3 (Classes 7 - 9). The book reviews were first judged on the regional level and the finalists then competed at the national level. The reviews were evaluated by a distinguished panel of jury comprising educationists, academics, and authors of children’s books.

At Level 1, Ammaz Faiz of Garrison Junior Academy, Lahore, is the national winner; at Level 2, the national winner is Zaid Faisal of Generation’s School, Karachi; and the national winner at Level 3 is Alishba Shahzad of Hamdard Public School, Karachi.

The 1st runner-up of Level 1 is Eishal Nadeem of Kohinoor Grammar School, Faisalabad; Abdullah Nasir of Grammar School, Rah-e-Aman Branch, Rawalpindi, of Level 2; and Ayesha Shabbir of Lahore Grammar School, Faisalabad, of Level 3.

The 2nd runners-up are: at Level 1, Rabayl Hassan of Roots School System, Rawalpindi; at Level 2, Jazbia Faheem of Maryam Siddiqa Girls Higher Secondary School, Rabwa; and at Level 3, Maryam Kainat of Bahria College, Karachi.

The winners of each level will be awarded a certificate and a gift voucher worth Rs25,000 by the OUP, a laptop sponsored by Engro Foods, and a gift hamper sponsored by Shan Foods. The 1st runners-up of each level will be awarded a certificate and a gift voucher worth Rs15,000 by the OUP, and a tablet and gift hamper sponsored by Shan Foods. The 2nd runners-up of each level will be awarded a certificate and a gift voucher worth Rs10,000 by the OUP and a gift hamper sponsored by Shan Foods.