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School children in the Indonesian city of Bandung have been asked to swap their smartphone for a fluffy chick.

Yes you read right - officials hatched the project called "chickenisation" to gently encourage children to take more interest in animals and less in tech.

Around 2,000 four-day-old chicks will be handed out to school children Bandung in the coming weeks.

The students have to feed their new pets before and after school and even take them home.

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Twelve chicks have already been given to kids with a sign that read: "Please take good care of me".

Bandung's mayor Oded Muhammad Danial said it's also part of a national plan to broaden pupils' education.