Radiophone

Sesame Workshop India

This project brings educational programs involving characters from the Indian version of Sesame Street, known as Galli Galli Sim Sim, to marginalized regions of the country through community radios and cellular phones. With entertaining stories, it teaches healthy habits and hygiene and helps kids learn how to read, write and count.

This project brings educational programs involving characters from the Indian version of Sesame Street, known as Galli Galli Sim Sim, to marginalized regions of the country through community radios and cellular phones. With entertaining stories, it teaches healthy habits and hygiene and helps kids learn how to read, write and count.

Country: India
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Problem: This Indian project combats the difficulties of millions of families, who gain access to information that will help their children to develop healthily and completely. Created in 2011, it uses a combination of community radio and telephone-based systems to broadcast entertaining educational content to communities that do not have televisions, internet or even electricity. Although 77% of the Indian urban population have television sets, this percentage falls to 33% in rural areas. The radio reaches 80% of all homes in the country, through FM radios and cellular phones. Like the videos shown on TV and the internet, these audio projects provide stories, music and interactive games that involve the characters from the Indian version of Sesame Street (known as Galli Galli Sim Sim). The TV program arrived in India in 2006. Up to 2012, it had been watched by more than 80 million people. There are even printed versions and school activities. The project has a partnership with companies like HSBC, Qualcomm and the Schwab Charitable Fund.




Solutions: The courses have different themes, such as literacy, mathematics, healthy habits, food and hygiene, and involve characters from Sesame Street. The diffusion of the audio tapes by radio and streaming is significant, particularly for marginalized populations and migrants in the country. The project helps children to prepare themselves for school and for life as they celebrate India´s cultural diversity. They learn new vocabulary, how to tell stories, play games with words, differentiate sounds, deal with numbers and solve problems. They understand the relationship of cause and effect, and learn about healthy physical, social and emotional habits. 

In this program, parents, teachers and the community in general learn about the importance of education and health among girls and they are stimulated to discuss the issues that are essential to life in India, such as the need for social development among marginalized families. The poor, conservative village of Nagina, in the district of Mewat (Haryana), approximately 100 kilometers from New Delhi has no electricity. The Radiophone project reached this community through cellular phones that were tuned into a community radio station from the region. Children and adults in the village began to listen to the programmes of Galli Galli Sim Sim and learn important habits, such as washing their hands before meals. In addition, at least ten schools received educational material about healthy habits and curricular guidance for teachers.




Outcomes: Studies have shown that 34% of the children who had access to the content of this project improved their learning levels and quality of life. Close to 200,000 children participated in the project, improving their vocabulary and ability to tell stories three-fold, when compared with children who did not have access to the course. They also demonstrated four times more sensitivity to the importance of collecting trash and conserving water. Studies have also shown that access to the content of the project had an immediate impact on the listeners. Several of them stopped smoking, while other took their children to get vaccinations, started to save money or started to study. After the courses, listeners called the radio to ask specialists questions live on air. They even shared their concerns for the community, such as problems related to access to water.