The 16th edition of the popular children's television show, "Sisimpur", is about to hit television screens very soon. Children's favourite characters Halum, Tuktuki, Ikri, Shiku and Julia will return with a new friend, bold and strong Ameera, with new fun stories this season. 

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Sesame Workshop Bangladesh have jointly collaborated to bring this new endeavour to television. The programme is designed to support children with key messages on diversity, equity, and inclusion, fostering emotional well-being and self-care skills, and developing their literacy and numeracy skills.

The new season will also feature special episodes with sign language to aid children with special needs.

The much-anticipated programme will introduce a new character, Ameera, who is a witty inquisitive 8-year-old girl with a passion for science and basketball. Ameera is also a person with a disability and will use a pair of crutches and a wheelchair whenever she is interacting with the group. She is everyone's favourite comedian, and her great sense of humour serves her well as a natural leader who encourages others with her bright personality. 

The slogan for the season is "Ponero Sheshe Sholo Ashe, Thakbo Shobai Shobar Pashe." New episodes of the season will premiere on prominent cable network channels RTV, Duronto and Maasranga Television.

This season will feature educational stories and content focusing on diversity, equity, inclusion, foundational literacy, numeracy, the importance of nutritious food, problem-solving, gender equity, autism, and other key topics. 

It will also feature some fantastic new animated content on mathematics, science, and healthy habits. Additionally, there will be live-action film segments featuring children and their caregivers, as well as segments with Ikri for learning the alphabet and segments with Tuktuki for learning numbers. 

Season 16 of "Sisimpur" features narrative formats like Tuktuki's "Let's Make and Play" and Halum's "You Also Can".  Since an overarching theme of the new season is ensuring access and participation of all children, families will see characters from various backgrounds and ethnicities, as well as children with different abilities, including several episodes featuring sign language. 

On February 20, season 16 of "Sisimpur" was officially launched by Additional Director General Dr Uttam Kumar Das, of the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), and USAID Mission Director Reed Aeschliman. The event was held at Bengal Studio Auditorium, located in Tejgaon, and saw attendance from prominent stakeholders, including Randy Ali, USAID deputy mission director, Sonjai Reynolds-Cooper, director of USAID/Bangladesh Education Office, Jagadish Esh, director of Bangladesh Television, Syed Ashik Rahman, CEO of RTV, Sara Zaker, co-chairman of Asiatic and Mohammad Shah Alam, chief of party of USAID's Sisimpur project. 

With the generous support of the American people through USAID, "Sisimpur", has been helping children across Bangladesh grow smarter, stronger, and kinder since 2005. Moreover, the airing of "Sisimpur" is supported by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs. At the same time, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education has been providing "Sisimpur" support with school-based programme implementation.

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