Sesame Square

The Nigerian co-production of Sesame Street was designed to educate and delight the country's youngest citizens. The project combines locally produced segments, including live action films and animation, with international library segments. Sesame Square offers children an entertainment-based vehicle for learning basic literacy, mathematics, life skills, and health, including age-appropriate HIV/AIDS education. By presenting educational content through a lens that is relevant to their own culture, Sesame Square is designed to inspire Nigerian children to learn while cultivating a sense of pride in their country.

A critical component of the project is an extensive outreach programme involving the delivery of a combination of locally-produced print materials and video, distributed to children and caregivers via a network of collaborating government and nongovernmental organisations. Outreach materials, in tandem with training activities for educators, parents, and other participating caregivers, provide opportunities to reach children who do not have regular access to television, including orphans and vulnerable children.

HIV/AIDS, Basic Education.

Nigeria's education challenges include the fact that less than one-third of Nigerian children attend pre-school, and only about 60% participate in any formal schooling. The number of Nigerian children at the start of the Sesame Square project was estimated to be 43 million under nine years of age and 25 million under six years of age. The majority of these children live in poverty; between 1994 and 2004, 71% of the Nigerian population lived on less than one dollar per day. Forty percent of Nigeria's adult population and nearly 30% of the youth population (aged 15-24 years) are illiterate, and there is a disproportionate number of illiterate women. The top reasons cited for low school attendance are monetary cost and opportunity cost - families' need for children to stay home and work.