The Ministry of Education and Higher Education held today the eighth session of the "Illuminations" initiative under the title "Khairo Jalees" on its celebration of World Book and Copyright Day. The session was attended by more than (500) students, in addition to teachers, parents, school principals, and senior officials of the Ministry, in the theater hall at the permanent headquarters of the Ministry.

The session, which was moderated by Mr. Abdullah Al-Halabi from the Ministry's Public Relations, was attended by Dr. Aisha Jassim Al-Kuwari, CEO of Rosa Publishing House and Director of the Qatari Forum for Authors, student Abdullah Mohammed Al-Berri, champion of the Arab Reading Challenge for the seventh season, and Ms. Reem Ibrahim Al-Bader, Parent. The session discussed five axes: Reading for learning and self-development and fun, reading in the digital age, reading, and society, and the role of libraries and platforms in encouraging reading. The last axis discussed the challenges and proposed solutions to promote a culture of reading.

 In her intervention at the session, Dr. Aisha Jassim Al-Kuwari praised the "Illuminations" initiative as a new light to search for innovative solutions to many issues and praised the Ministry's celebration of World Book Day to stimulate reading and introduce the rights and duties of authors. She reviewed the role played by publishing houses to motivate community members to read. She noted in this context the strong relationship between reading and writing. She said: To be a distinguished writer, you must be a distinguished reader. Our mission is to make society a reading community and a way of life. Qatar deserves the best from its educated and reading children who have access to learning resources.

Al-Kuwari acknowledged the importance of the paper book despite the digital development. She noted the increase in the number of young authors in Qatar, which indicates the vitality of the reading community. She reassured young people about social media platforms and their competition with the book, indicating that they are supporting tools for the book rather than a substitute for it that we use to introduce our publications and get feedback about what we write and publish.

She revealed that the criteria for selecting and publishing books represent originality, accuracy, and objectivity. Through its scientific presentation, the book describes a qualitative addition to the knowledge society. She noted the existence of a supervisory, technical committee that determines the standards for publishing books. She called for strengthening the role of libraries by establishing events to create momentum to encourage and promote reading.

At the end of her intervention, Al-Kuwari called for concerted efforts to reach the knowledge society by promoting the culture of reading, which has become a shared responsibility between all individuals, community institutions, and the state. She praised the students' experiences with reading that they presented in the session, stressing that it supports moving forward in the authoring and publishing industry and promoting a culture of reading in society.

Mrs. Reem Ibrahim Al-Bader, a parent, highlighted the role of families in encouraging reading among their children, especially in the digital age. She represented the best methods and strategies to motivate them to read and write and made many proposals to encourage children to read. She said, "We are a reading nation." We must pay special attention to promoting the reading culture, motivating our children, and creating challenges and competition among them.