A group of international schools in Riyadh has announced the launch of ‘Mission Reading' as part of the summer holiday activity targeting about 7,000 students in different parts of Saudi Arabia. ‘Mission Reading' is aimed to inculcate long last habit of reading books among the students. The project involves students of all ages studying in classes from 1st to Xth Standard, Sheeba Ramachandran, Public Relations Officer of Huda Group of Schools, said. The students from 1st to IVth will compete for a topic of ‘story-telling' while students from Vth to Xth standard vie for book reviews. The basic idea behind the competition is to wean away students from watching television channels on which the children have been spending a large amount of their leisure time, he said. Brochures with slogans such as “let's make reading fun and adventurous for all,” and a step toward perfect tomorrow have been distributed among the students. T.P. Muhammad, managing director of Huda Group of Schools and brainchild of ‘Mission Reading' said the project will encourage students of various age groups to participate in different competitions like reading a number of books, story-telling, book review and essay writing among others. The students are also encouraged to develop a habit of reading newspapers on a daily basis, he said. “Mission Reading is an initiative to create a culture of reading among the children of expatriate communities in Saudi Arabia. We are trying to engage students of schools in different cities of Saudi Arabia”, said Muhammad while addressing the audience at the launch of the campaign. The winner students will be awarded fabulous prizes including scholarships and fee concessions. The launch of “Mission Reading” is seen as first such activity for summer holidays started by a private sector institution. The participating students are from schools such as Huda International School, Modern International School in Riyadh, Al-Fanoosh International School in Wadi Al-Dawasir, Al-Muna International School, Dammam and Huda Al-Noor International School, Al
