Classical Arabic for Sesame Street children's series

The Arab version of the US Sesame Street program, “Iftah Ya Simsim,” a television series targeting children aged four to six, will be heading into the studio next year using only classical Arabic.
This was announced at a press conference on Wednesday by Ali Al-Karni, director general of the Arab Bureau of Education for the Gulf States (ABEGS).
The conference brought together the Educational Advisory Committee (EAC) comprising 10 representatives of government agencies and academic institutions throughout the region, to review the creative brief, and discuss the project's progress and educational content. The series is expected to debut across the region in early 2015.
Al-Karni endorsed the educational objectives of the program, which will focus on healthy lifestyles, Arabic literacy and school preparedness.
Robert Knezevic, senior vice president, International Projects Management Group, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, was also present.
In her presentation, Cairo Arafat, managing director, Bidaya Media, said that producing fun, creative and stimulating educational programs in Arabic was their goal and Iftah Ya Simsim was opening the gateway to locally produced and relevant content for children in the region.
“No’man, the big, gentle curious character who loves learning, will be returning and joined by a cast of furry and feathered friends,” said Arafat.
Gearing up for production, the EAC meeting included representatives from ABEGS, Abu Dhabi Education Council, Joint Program Production Institution, Health Authorities of Abu Dhabi, TwoFour54, Poet’s Academy, Zayed University, and Mubadala.
Bidaya Media is developing an initiative that will help build capacity by training the local team on the successful production model of Sesame Street, and providing and delivering educational content relevant to Arab children.
Talking on the enhancement of Sesame Street productions around the world, Knezevic said that they have developed diverse materials and content across multiple platforms.
“Our main vision is to help young children grow smarter, stronger, and kinder,” he said. "We will be producing content on a variety of platforms to achieve measurable educational gains with a goal to empower young children with the knowledge and skills to meet their full potential and become productive leaders and citizens."
Noura Al-Kaabi, chief executive officer of TwoFour54, is responsible for the post-production of the program, which will rollout at the end of 2014. She said the project would position Abu Dhabi as an Arabic content driver and catalyst for education.