Sesame Square

Sesame Square

Sesame Square was established in August 2008 as a program and brand of Sesame Workshop in order to implement the Sesame Street Nigeria project funded by USAID and PEPFAR. During execution, the project successfully accomplished all project objectives, and three extensions were granted. Sesame Square has established a fully incorporated entity in Nigeria, partnering with Sesame Workshop, USA. The organization is fortunate to receive oversight from the head office to guide branding and to ensure quality.

Contents

• Sesame square season 1 episode 9 gigantic
• Sesame square nigeria
• Sesame Square
• References

Over the last nine years, the Sesame Square project has developed educational projects for children, families, and educators in Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Zambia. All activities have been led by a multidisciplinary Nigerian team with technical support from the New York office. In Nigeria, beyond television broadcast, the project provided NGOs and school districts throughout the country (13 states – touching the 6 geopolitical zones with emphasis on 8northern states including the FCT) with print and video based outreach materials delivering teaching strategies, health, education, and basic skills content. Sesame Square is designed to inspire children to learn while cultivating a sense of pride in their country.

''Sesame Square is a Nigerian version of Sesame Street. It is West Africa's first Sesame Street adaptation. Nigerians produce and voice the series in Standard English. The show is scheduled to have three seasons, with the first containing 26 episodes, one for each letter of the English alphabet. It is due to be screened on Nigerian Television Authority network. The set of Sesame Square resembles a traditional Nigerian village with a central mango tree. The series stars Kami, an HIV-positive Muppet (who was originally part of the South African version of Sesame Street), and Zobi, a blue, furry Muppet who is a 'Yam Monster' (the Nigerian version of the Cookie Monster in the American original). He often shouts out, "me eat yam!" It will also feature segments from the American original including famous characters such as Big Bird and Bert and Ernie. The characters will be revoiced, however, to give them Nigerian accents. The opening theme tune is "Welcome to Sesame Square" and includes the use of talking drums. These are the segments were dubbed in Global Grover, Play with Me Sesame, Elmo's World, Bert and Ernie's Great Adventures, and Sesame Street English. In addition to teaching letters and numbers, the show aims to educate children about malaria prevention, promote Nigerian unity through the representation of the diverse groups that make-up the country and to help remove the stigma of being HIV-positive. It is the second foreign co-production of Sesame Street to be shown entirely in English, the first being Northern Ireland's Sesame Tree.

RATIONALE

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has an estimated 140 million people,1 approximately 43 million of whom are under the age of nine.2 The majority of Nigerian children live in poverty and have limited access to basic education.

• Between 1994 and 2004, 71% of the population lived off of less than one dollar a day3. • Less than 30% of Nigerian children attend pre-school and only 60% ultimately attend school at all.4 • There are 63 Colleges of Education in Nigeria and about 70 universities. Every year hundreds of thousands of teachers graduate from these institutions but the education they are receiving has not made much of an impact in the level of literacy in primary schools. According to Nigeria DHS EdData Survey 2010: 83.7% of children age 5 and 61% of children between the ages of 6-11, admitted to the Nigerian public schools, cannot read at all. Statistics gathered from UBEC report that of the 43,765 teachers employed to teach at the ECDCs, 14,188 of them are not qualified. 12,388 of these teachers have been teaching for about 5 years (this number includes those with and without teaching qualification).

To address children’s needs, Sesame Workshop, with the generous support of USAID and in partnership with local educators and government ministries, created Sesame Square, a multi-media educational initiative designed to foster cognitive and socio-emotional development. An extensive outreach campaign has extended the reach of the show to children who may lack consistent access to television. In partnership with local NGOs, we have reached nearly 60,000 children and 1,800 caregivers through trainings and community viewing events in 11 states. We have distributed educational materials such as alphabet readers, story trees (a floor mat literacy game), puppet kits, flash cards, and care giver guides to educators, children, and families. To address teachers’ needs, Sesame Workshop, with the generous support of the IDP Foundation, Inc., worked with expert West African educators to develop a set of engaging, entertaining teacher training modules and complementary teacher guides. Topics include Positive Discipline and Classroom Management, Developing a Child Friendly Learning Space, Teaching with Low-Cost Resources, and more.

The Executive director is Ayobisi Osuntusa.

Big text