Whistle in mouth, Pranay Bhattacharya leads his students to school. Picture by Sourav Paul

Ghatal, Feb. 14: At 9.30 sharp, the shriek of a whistle pierces the morning air. It's time to go to school.

Pranay Krishna Bhattacharya, the headmaster of Sadichak Primary School in West Midnapore's Ghatal, about 120km from Calcutta, has found a unique way to ensure his students arrive on time. Like the Pied Piper of Hamelin who led rats out of the town with his music, the 50-year-old shepherds children of Sadichak village to school, blowing a whistle along the way.

When Bhattacharya had joined the school in December 2000, he found classrooms empty in the morning. Classes are scheduled to begin at 10.30am, but students would amble in around noon, some even later.

The headmaster went to the children's homes to take the matter up with their parents and found that they could not afford to buy a watch or a clock. Most of the villagers being illiterate, they could not read time anyway.

Bhattacharya then hit upon the idea of using the whistle as an alarm. For the last seven years, he has been cycling around the village every morning, blowing his whistle and picking up the 200-odd students on the way.

"I first go to Rishipara and Hajrapara. Having dropped the children from there to school, I cycle to Muslimpara, Kapatpara, Gandhipukurpara, Mangalpukurpara and Singhpara. The students know the whistle means it is time to go to school. This has been my routine for the past seven years. Believe me, attendance has really picked up," said Bhattacharya, who lives in Ghatal, 2km from the school.

The headmaster said he did not blame the parents for their children playing truant. "Ninety-five per cent of the men here are farm labourers who go out to work in the morning and return in the evening. Some of the mothers, too, work in the fields while others are busy with household chores. They can't monitor their children."

He said the villagers were also unaware of the importance of sending their children to school. "I decided that something must be done about it. I told them that each morning, I would walk through paras (neighbourhoods) with my whistle. Whenever you hear my whistle, it means it is time for school."

Teachers say Bhattacharya has "brought about a dramatic rise in attendance and helped stem the dropout rate".

The parents, too, realise what a boon Bhattacharya has been for them.

Tota Dolai, whose son Rajesh studies in Class II, said she could not stop her elder son from dropping out of school, but her younger one doesn't miss a day.

"My husband and I go out early in the morning to work in the field. Sometimes when I came home for lunch, I would find my sons playing in the courtyard. When I asked them about school, they would tell me that it was not yet time and I believed them. My elder son, who is 14 years old, never developed the habit of going to school. But thanks to Pranaybabu, Rajesh is attending school regularly," she said.

The students, once forced to drag their unwilling feet to school, are now charged up. "When I grow up, I want to help Sir. I will accompany him, blowing a whistle to bring children to school," said Rakesh Dolai, a Class IV student.