Dubai: The country’s first child radio hosts will be presenting a two-hour weekly show which will be aired on Friday on Pearl FM at 10am for the first time.
The group of eight presenters, aged eight to 13 years, of different nationalities will present ‘The Kids Club’ show, which will be aired on every Friday with three reruns during the weekend.
The announcement was made during a press conference held at the Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children (AJCCC) on Thursday.
The pre-recorded episodes of the show cover a number of educational and entertaining topics, which are of interest to children such as the love of giving, cartoons, occupations, family, the UAE, travel and tourism.
The Kids Club has two main hosts — Aashna Takhtani, 8, and Mishal Faraz, 12 — who are joined by Mohammad Fahad Moawaad, Oscar Mairet, Irra Bhattacharjee, Yara McDonald, Sana Pruthu Shah and Magnus Tang.
“The station is keen on providing media training to children and in nurturing their talents by providing them with a platform through which they can develop their self-expression skills,” said Adel Omar, senior special project and media director at AJCCC.
He pointed out that over the last few months, Pearl FM’s creative and talented team selected a group of children and provided them with training in the areas of presenting, preparing a radio show, understanding the internal structure of a radio station — from production, presenting to directing and, finally, editing.
The children were also trained to understand the inner workings of a radio station and were taught how to speak with confidence when talking into a microphone in the studio.
The show, which will be broadcast in English, is directed by Mona Al Merri, director and producer at Pearl FM, and produced by Dr Lamya Tawfik, radio presenter and producer at Pearl FM.
“The idea has been brewing for a year and the actual work to take it forward happened three months ago. We involved the children in the whole process and taught them how a radio programme is produced — from preparing your talking points to recording in the studio to working with a team,” said Dr Tawfik.
She pointed out that children who were guests on Pearl FM were also among the presenters who were chosen. “We carried out voice and presentation tests, and then shortlisted the children who we felt we can work with,” said Dr Tawfik.
While presenters were paired up and given topics along with talking points to host an episode of the show, they were also encouraged to share their own views, she added.
The show will include several segments, including ‘Arabic word of the day,’ and a fact-checking session called ‘I have no idea.’
One of the main presenters on the show, Mishal Faraz, is a student at the Winchester School of Jebel Ali.
“I am a dedicated environmentalist and thanks to Pearl FM, I am a radio presenter. In the future, I want to become an environmental scientist, but this experience has helped me by boosting my confidence and teaching me how to connect with so many people,” said Faraz.
She pointed out that her new role does not conflict with her school work, as the show is recorded early on Friday morning.
Co-presenter Aashna Takhtani, a student at Kings School Al Barsha expressed her love for the audience, saying, “I am a YouTuber and I love to talk and hold the mike. I love audiences and I love all of you guys.”
Takhtani, pointed out she aims to become a businesswoman and an MC (master of ceremony) in the future, with this experience teaching her how to work with different people.
Auditions will be held for Season 2 of the Kids Club, with plans to transform the show from a pre-recorded one to a live show.
Listeners can tune in to Pearl FM from inside the UAE at 10am or 5pm on Friday and again at 5pm on Saturdays. Listeners from outside the UAE can also tune in through the Pearl FM UAE app.
