AMMAN -- Work on the second season of the critically acclaimed children's television series "Hikayat Simsim" officially kicked off yesterday with an advisory committee meeting on the curriculum goals for the new programme.
"In the new season, we want to teach children about their Jordanian culture as well as introduce them to different cultures and instill pride in their name and nationality," said Reem Zada, content and research director for Jordan Pioneers, the company producing the local adaptation of world-renowned show "Sesame Street."
The series will also focus on gender roles and will introduce the many different lifestyles of Jordanian children, according to Khaled Haddad, general manager of Jordan Pioneers.
"It's my vision that we will increase awareness of gender issues and bring more attention to girls and their important place in society. As well, we want to show stories of children from different cultures, like perhaps introduce a child living in Wadi Rum to a child living in the north," Haddad said after the meeting.
This year he also hopes to increase the involvement of parents, expand the show's broadcast area to include more rural areas and better reach children who are unable to go to school where Hikayat Simsim educational support material is distributed.
The advisory committee meeting brought together a wide range of interested parties, including the ministers of education, health, culture and environment, and representatives from the Jordan River Foundation, the Greater Amman Municipality, the National Council for Family Affairs, John Hopkins, and the Jordan Radio and Television Corporation.
Also in attendance were representatives from the New York-based Sesame Workshop, a nonprofit company that produces Sesame Street and co-produces adaptations of the show in 25 countries around the world.
"The hope is always that Jordan's Hikayat Simsim will continue to be broadcast for many years to come," said Robert Knezevic, regional director for Sesame Workshop.
"And it helps to see that the partners involved are really taking ownership of the programme. This meeting is a great example of the kind of engagement and participation that's needed to make the show more successful," he added.
Sesame Workshop, Knezevic explained, provides the local production team with a kind of "Sesame Street blueprint" that can be adapted to the culture and specific educational goals of the country.
"We provide the building materials and consultation needed to develop each regional show -- it's like we help to build the kitchen, but it's the Jordanians who do the cooking," Knezevic said.
The children's show features locally-developed Muppet characters Tonton and Juljul and actor Issa Sweidan as the grandfather figure Jiddo Simsim.
The new season will address five main educational areas: School readiness, health and hygiene, respect, understanding tolerance and diversity, child-family community and social relations and culture, heritage and arts.
Developed for children between the ages of four and seven, Hikayat Simsim is created, written and produced in Jordan by local educators and television professionals. The show combines segments featuring Muppet characters with animation and mini-documentaries as well as segments featuring some of the original Sesame Street characters.
Studio production for the new season will begin in August and the series will begin broadcast in January 2007.
By Grace Peacock
© Jordan Times 2006
