RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is to host its first cultural skills competition finals — with a prize pot of SR5 million ($1.3 million). More than 247,000 students have participated in the contest, Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan recently said in a tweet. Hamad Al-Muqbil, the Ministry of Education’s undersecretary for educational programs, said the goals of the competition — organized by the ministries of culture and education — were to, “discover and develop the skills of students in cultural and artistic fields.” Noha Kattan, the Ministry of Culture’s undersecretary for national partnerships, said the competition involved identifying talent in public schools, honing their skills and knowledge, providing online training, and then running a series of competitions. Finalists will showcase their art or skill at a closing ceremony, which will be subject to voting. The first-place winners in each category of the competition will receive SR100,000, with the runner-up getting SR75,000, and SR50,000 going to the person finishing third. Al-Yamamah magazine columnist Khalid Al-Taweel told Arab News that such competitions opened doors of communication within communities. He said: “The educational environment is brimming with innovative talents from a variety of sectors. The Ministry of Culture plays an institutional role in promoting and encouraging these young creative talents to contribute to the progress of our cultural and creative landscapes.” Al-Taweel noted that some students had abilities in literature, poetry, public speaking, and expressing themselves, and contests such as the cultural skills competition helped take them to a professional level. An English teacher at Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz High School in Madinah, Al-Taweel added: “For years, as a teacher in the field of pedagogical work, I have listened to students’ creations on school radio every morning, as well as made sure they attended school theater, and watched their plastic artwork displayed in exhibitions and cultural contests held on the sidelines of a number of events.”