TAKALANI SESAME, FIRST TV & RADIO SERIES TO FULLY & EQUITABLY PRODUCE PROGRAMMING ACROSS OFFICIAL SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES
Award-Winning Children’s TV Series Celebrates Its Ground-Breaking New Language Strategy
Johannesburg, South Africa, and New York, NY, October 17, 2007
In a ground-breaking move to support the government's strong mother tongue based education policy, Takalani Sesame, the award-winning South African children’s program, will soon be on air in almost all of South Africa’s official languages. Launching its fourth season on SABC in August, the producers of Takalani Sesame have introduced an “applied language” approach to the series. Based on the broadcaster’s language policy, the approach calls for each Takalani Sesame episode to be produced in several official South African languages. SABC 1 and 2 who broadcast the series will dedicate a specific day of the week to a single language.
The current season 4 (on air until 9th November) includes seTswana (Tuesdays), tshiVenda (Wednesdays), isiZulu (Thursdays), sePedi (Fridays) and English on Mondays on SABC 1 and Saturdays on SABC 2. Season 5 (airing early 2008) will see a new choice of languages including isiXhosa, xiTsonga, seSotho, Afrikaans and a continuation of English. This strategy celebrates the rich diversity of South Africa and allows children to access content in their mother tongue, a practice which is of tremendous educational value.
The new season, 130 twenty-four minute television episodes, continues to follow a holistic approach to children’s early learning and development by covering educational objectives across the domains of literacy, numeracy, and life-skills. The educational objectives are informed by the National ECD Curriculum. As said by the Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, at a recent Early Childhood Development event,
“A range of research studies and policy declarations assert that early childhood education unquestionably makes a real and lasting difference in children’s lives.”
A feature of this season is its emphasis on overarching competencies that young children need to understand themselves in relation to others and the world around them. Viewers of Takalani Sesame will be exposed to educational messages that facilitate children’s early cognitive skills as well as their physical and emotional health, social relationships, and environmental awareness. Episodes are organized around child-friendly themes such as “my family,” “my friends,” and “imagination.”
As always, Takalani Sesame presents educational messages in an entertaining way, to engage its young viewers. In one story, Moshe and Zikwe read a book about food and imagine they can smell several delicious dishes, little knowing that Ma Dimpho is preparing a feast right behind them! In another story, Neno’s friends rush to take care of him thinking he is unwell only to find that a scarf around his head was placed to help keep his headphones on! In yet another, Zuzu plays detective to find the missing lettuce in Ma Dimpho’s kitchen. Along the way, we learn about various healthy vegetables!
A new season of Takalani Sesame radio, 150 seven-minute shows, is also underway. Produced in 12 South African languages, the series will continue to feature all the beloved Takalani Sesame Muppets. This year, the action takes place directly on Takalani Sesame, where DJ Moshe has a new studio complete with a view of the street. He’ll be inviting listeners and celebrity guests to come in and chat about all the exciting things happening in their world. Each week, Moshe will explore a different learning theme like “feelings,” “games,” or “animals.”
“The new season of Takalani Sesame showcases the diversity of South Africa,” said Charles Owen, Head of the Children Genre at SABC. “While the series utilizes many languages, it has one key message—to meet the needs of the children with relevant content, to allow our young viewers to see their lives reflected on screen with people and situations that that they really encounter daily. Marrying this with humor, song, and adventure makes for an engaging television and radio series.”
The Takalani Sesame partners recently committed to the renewal of the Takalani Sesame series, ensuring educational programming in South Africa for the next five years.
“When we first sponsored the launch of the series back in 2000, our viewers were just young preschoolers beginning to read and count,” said Emile Terblanche, Sponsorship Manager at Sanlam. “By the time our current sponsorship concludes, our ‘viewers’ will be ready for college! We’re so very proud to have been, and continue to be for our newest fans, such an important and integral part of their lives—encouraging a lifetime love of learning.”
“Takalani,” which means “be happy” in TshiVenda, conveys the spirit of happiness and innocence. Takalani Sesame is brought to the children of South Africa through a partnership with the Department of Education, United States Agency for International Development, Sanlam and SABC Education. Takalani Sesame is produced by Kwasukasukela under the creative direction of Sesame Workshop in collaboration with the South African partners.
Contact
Genevieve Cutts
Firestarter
082 652 7908
genevieve@firestarter.co.za
