President Dr Mohamed Muizzu and First Lady Sajidha Mohamed have presented awards to winners of the 38th National Quran Recitation Competition.

The closing ceremony was held on Thursday night, with 138 contestants competing in the final round.

This year’s competition allowed individuals to participate independently through an audition round, rather than representing an institution. The competition included semi-final and final rounds, with its administrative processes fully digitised.

The President’s Office said international-level judges were included on both judging panels for the semi-final and final rounds.

President Dr Muizzu presented the first-place awards in the categories for memorised recitation and unmemorised recitation of the Quran, as well as the Hafiz category.

The first-place Hafiz winner also received the President’s Special Commemorative Medal, a cash prize of MVR 100,000 and a presidential scholarship to pursue up to a PhD in a relevant field.

Additional prizes included cash awards from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and the Quran-related national fund, as well as Umrah trips and trophies from the Maldives Hajj Corporation.

The First Lady presented the secondand third-place awards in the three categories.