Loudspeakers teach Indian children after COVID-19 shutters schools

DANDWAL, India: One overcast morning in a farming village in hilly western India, a group of schoolchildren sat on the mud floor of a wooden shed for their first class in months.

There was no teacher, just a voice from a loudspeaker.

The recorded lessons form part of an initiative by an Indian non-profit spread over six villages that aims to reach 1,000 students denied formal classes since the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close four months ago.

The children sang rhymes and answered questions, with some of them speaking of the loudspeaker as "Speaker Brother" or "Speaker Sister".

"I love studying with Speaker Brother," said Jyoti, a gleeful 11-year-old girl who attended one session.