A still from Modern Times

Krishnagar, April 26: After dal-bhaat has failed, it is time to try Charlie Chaplin.

Faced with an increasing number of dropouts in primary schools, the Nadia administration today decided to make use of Chaplin classics to woo students.

Under the Sarba Siksha Abhijan, cooked mid-day meal is provided to every student up to Class IV but, on an average, 65 per cent of them quit studies at the primary level.

District magistrate Rajesh Pandey said initially, shorts like Pawnshop, The Circus, Gold Rush and The Kid will be shown. ?Gradually, we will screen masterpieces like Limelight, The Great Dictator and Modern Times.?

An district official said about nine lakh children in over 2,500 schools would be shown the CDs from May. Each show will cost the administration about Rs 200.

?We want to urge the students to come to school, at least to see the movies. We are sure that after seeing Chaplin, little boys and girls will not turn their backs on the schools. They will want to come to school just to see the films. After each show, we will ask them to open their books and pick up their pencils. We are sure they will not disappoint us,? said Pandey.

Dropout rates are also high in Murshidabad, Purulia and Bankura. If the Nadia experiment is successful, the administration is expected to recommend it for the other districts also.

?The concept is new here and we have already asked the school education department if the same arrangements can be made in other districts where the rate of dropout is high,? said Bibhash Biswas, the chairman of district primary school council.

?The village education committees will be authorised to organise the school shows before or after school,? said Pandey, also the director of the committee to implement the education-for-all-programme in the district.

Zilla parishad chief Rama Biswas said a survey had been conducted in which the children were asked about their favourites in cinema and sports. ?We were surprised... most of them named Chaplin. Village video parlours often show his films and that ?s how they came to know of him.?