Sisimpur steps into its 20th year

“Sisimpur”, the programme that embarked on television aiming to turn learning into a more enjoyable experience for pre-primary and primary grade children, has completed 19 years and steps into its 20th year on April 15. Every year, the 15th of April is celebrated as “Sisimpur Day” as it was the day Sisimpur went on air for the very first time.

With the help of the television show, school and community engagement events, storybooks and learning materials, Sisimpur helps children identify letters, identify letters from words, match words with letters, create sentences with words, and more. Children are also encouraged to use materials from their surrounding environment to identify and learn colors and words. For example, the beginning letters of words such as house, banana, mango, table, clock, cow, tree, leaf, pen, book, and more are all taught through play. Through the characters of Sisimpur, different elements of the environment, such as colours, shapes, etc., are taught. The accurate pronunciation of the Bangla language has always been regarded as an essential component at Sisimpur, which is why all the Sisimpur muppets and human characters all use standard Bangla pronunciation. At the same time, the dialects, cultures, and lifestyles of different areas are always celebrated and portrayed through Sisimpur content. This enables the children to respect and celebrate various cultures and dialects that are different from their own, according to a press release.

At present, the 16th Season of Sisimpur is being telecast on television. The popular television programme is shown every day on BTV, Duronto TV, RTV and Maasranga TV. Since the onset of this endeavour, Bangladesh Television has been broadcasting the Sisimpur programme for the past 19 years with the cordial support of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs of Bangladesh. Over 10 million people in the country are currently enjoying the programme through the four television channels.

Sisimpur has always been one of the main attractions for the children at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair. During the weekends, children join the fair in large numbers to spend quality time with their favourite Sisimpur characters, Ikri, Halum, Tuktuki, and Shiku, in addition to purchasing the Sisimpur storybook titles. This has already become an integral part of the Amar Ekushey Book Fair every year.

Regarding the accomplishment of Sisimpur's 19-year journey, the Managing Director of Sesame Workshop Bangladesh, Mohammad Shah Alam, mentioned that the programme is catering to meet the early education needs of 3 to 8-year-old children. The goal is also to support the needs of the parents, caregivers and teachers. Through joyfulness and play, Sisimpur plays an integral role in the holistic development of the child. Language-letters; mathematics; environment; gender equality; social values ​​and behaviour; tolerance and respect for differences and diversity are all key messages being disseminated through the rogram. There is also content focused on balanced and nutritious food; healthy habits; earthquakes; road safety and drowning-related water safety; building awareness against injury prevention; and giving ideas about income-expense and savings to children. Sisimpur also emphasises showing mutual respect, affection, admiration towards unity and diversity among the cultures as well as the people of the country.

Sesame Workshop Bangladesh implements all its interventions in Bangladesh in close collaboration with public, private, and international organisations. In the last 19 years, Sisimpur has collaborated with public partners such as the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Ministry of Culture, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Authority, and more. Sisimpur started its journey in Bangladesh through the generous support of USAID, which still continues to be a valued partner in Sisimpur’s journey in Bangladesh.

Sisimpur is the Bangladeshi counterpart of the New York-based educational television series Sesame Street, which is co-produced in Bangladesh through Sesame Workshop Bangladesh.