12 students win UK essay competition

The winners have been selected from over 150 entries received from students at Cambridge Centres across the region.

Murshida Abdul Kader of Dubai Gem Private School was selected the winner for the best overall essay and will, in addition to other prizes, receive £250 from the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce.

The essay competition entitled 'How does an international education with Cambridge improve your understanding of the world' was aimed at encouraging students in the Middle East and North Africa to think about a wider world and their understanding of the different races, religions and cultures and the natural environment. The competition was divided into four categories with first, second and third prizewinners being chosen in each.

The winners have been chosen by a panel of judges. Among the boys between the ages of 14 and 16 years, the winners include Baher Mohamed Mostafa Mohamed from Riada Language School, Egypt, Saleheen Salam, Al Tawaan Private School (Sherwood Academy), Abu Dhabi, and Babar Ali Mirza, Dukhan English Speaking School, Qatar.

In the girls category from ages 14 to 16 years, winners include Murshida Abdul Kader of Dubai Gem Private School, Dubai, Hadeer Walid Samy of Al Noor International School, Bahrain, and Hadir Mohamed Gehad Marie of the New Horizon School, Egypt.

Among the boys from 16 to 18 years, winners are Mohamed Luqman, Our Own English School, Al Ain, Wasib Mahmood, Al Ain English Speaking School, Al Ain, Raed Baconi, The National Orthodox School, Jordan, while the girls in the same age group are Anem Ishaq Nomani, Al Dhafra Private Schools, Al Ain, Dasuni Sathsara Alwis, Arab Unity School, Dubai, and Fatmah Hussain Al Qadfan, Muscat Private School, Oman.

The four first-prize winners have won a fully paid trip to the UK to visit Cambridge and London, as well as an Encyclopaedia of Language and books for their schools. Second prize-winners have won an HP iPAQ pocket PC donated by Hewlett Packard and third prize-winners have won a selection of Cambridge gifts.