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AI tools for teachers in India: free options for lesson plans, worksheets and translation
In short: a teacher in India can do most useful AI work with tools that cost nothing: a general chatbot on your own phone for lesson plans and question papers, the government's free Bhashini app for Indian-language translation and speech, and printable worksheets with every answer worked out (teacher review pending). The tool matters less than two rules: you check every answer before it reaches a child, and children's own use follows the tool's age rules and India's data law. This page goes task by task. For classroom routines and what to avoid, see our practical guide to AI in the Indian classroom.
Which tool for which job
| Your task | Kind of tool | Free options | What to check before you use the output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lesson plan for one chapter | General AI chatbot | ChatGPT, Google Gemini (free tiers, on your own account) | That it follows your textbook and syllabus, not a generic one; timings that fit a 35-40 minute period |
| Question paper or worksheet | General AI chatbot, or a ready-made worksheet | Chatbot as above; ready-made worksheets with an answer key | Solve every answer yourself; chatbots slip on arithmetic and invent page numbers |
| Hindi or another Indian language | Indian-language translation and speech | Bhashini app (Government of India, free) | Read it aloud; check subject words (a science term often has a set textbook word) |
| Read a text aloud for a weak reader | Text to speech | Bhashini (speech from text); your phone's built-in voice | Pronunciation of names and technical words |
| Checking homework, "was this written by AI?" | AI detectors | None we can recommend (see below) | Do not punish a child on a detector's score |
| Messages to parents | General AI chatbot | As above | No child's name, marks or photo in the prompt |
1. Lesson plans and worksheets: a general chatbot, used well
The free versions of ChatGPT and Google Gemini both write lesson plans, question sets and short explanations in English and in Hindi. Three habits make the output usable:
- Give it your chapter, not just the topic. "Class 8 Science, NCERT Curiosity, Chapter 5, forces" gets a closer plan than "lesson on force". Paste a short paragraph from your own notes if you want it to follow your order.
- Ask for the plan in your period length and your room. "One 40-minute period, 45 children, one blackboard, no projector" removes half the suggestions you could never use.
- Ask for answers with working, then check them yourself. Treat a chatbot's answer key as a draft. For maths and science, re-solve each item; it is the one step you cannot skip.
If you want ready-made worksheets with an answer key, our free printable worksheets cover Classes 1 to 10 in English, Hindi and Marathi, with every answer worked out (teacher review pending).
Who may use these tools. OpenAI's terms say a user must be at least 13 (or the minimum age in their country) and that users under 18 need a parent's or guardian's permission. Google's age rule is for the account: in India, 13 is the minimum age to manage your own Google Account; for a younger child, a parent can create and manage the account with Family Link. Gemini works with a personal Google Account, and Google's Gemini help says a parent who manages a Family Link account can turn off Gemini for users under 13. So for Classes 1 to 7 these are teacher tools: you use them to prepare, and you bring the result to class.
2. Indian languages: Bhashini
Bhashini (BHASHa INterface for India) is the Government of India's National Language Translation Mission, run by the Digital India BHASHINI Division under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The government says it supports 22 or more languages. Its free mobile app, published by the National e-Governance Division, translates from one Indian language to another, turns your voice into text and generates speech from text.
For a teacher this means three things:
- turning a short English paragraph into Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil or another Indian language for a child who reads better in it;
- dictating a note in your own language instead of typing it;
- having a short text read aloud for a child who is still learning to read.
Check two things every time: subject words (a translation may pick a common word where your textbook uses a set term), and names. Machine translation into Indian languages still needs a teacher's eye, as the study in the next section shows.
3. What a state programme looks like: Shiksha Copilot in Karnataka
Shiksha Copilot is a lesson-planning assistant built by Microsoft Research India with the non-profit Sikshana Foundation for Karnataka's schools. In its first pilot, 30 teachers in 30 Karnataka schools used it in English and Kannada, and a teacher survey found it cut most teachers' lesson-plan preparation from an hour or more to between 5 and 15 minutes (Microsoft, February 2024). A Cornell University study of more than 1,000 teachers of Classes 5 to 10 in Karnataka found it saved them about two hours a week, but 96% of the Kannada lesson plans needed changes, mostly in subject terms (Cornell, October 2026).
It is not open to every teacher: it was built for a state programme. We mention it because it shows both sides honestly: real time saved, and translated material that still needs a teacher's correction.
4. Checking work: be careful with "AI detectors"
Many teachers search for a free tool that says whether homework was written by AI. Be very careful. OpenAI built such a classifier itself and withdrew it in July 2023, citing its low rate of accuracy. A wrong "AI-written" score can punish an honest child. Better ways to know whose work it is:
- ask the child to explain one answer aloud, or redo one step in front of you;
- set some work in class, on paper;
- grade the working, not only the final answer.
5. Children's data: the rule that matters most in India
Under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, a child is anyone under 18. A company must get verifiable consent of the parent before processing a child's personal data, and must not track children, monitor their behaviour or target advertising at them. Our guide to your child's data and AI apps under the DPDP Act explains the rules in full.
What it means for you, day to day:
- never type a child's name, marks, photo, address or health detail into a chatbot;
- do not ask children to sign up for an AI tool on their own; follow the tool's age rule and your school's policy;
- prefer tools that work without a child account, or that you run on your own phone.
Before you pick a tool
Our classroom guide lists five questions to ask of any AI tool you use with a class: the children's language, whether a child can reach it without an adult, what happens to what they type, whether it shows working, and whether you can see what each child did. For a free tool, add two more:
- What does it cost after the free part? Note whether the free tier has a daily limit, or ends after a trial.
- Does it follow your syllabus? Ask it one question from the chapter you are teaching this week and compare the answer with the textbook page.
For a parent's checks on a study app, see how to judge an AI study app. If your school is starting CBSE's new subject, what the CBSE AI curriculum for Classes 3 to 8 asks and our one-period Hour of AI plan help you begin without computers.
Where CMDLearn fits
CMDLearn is building an AI tutor for Classes 1 to 10 in Hindi, Marathi and English, designed for government-school classrooms: it explains one step, checks the child's work and leaves the writing to the child. It is still being built and no school or child uses it yet. If you would like to hear when early access opens for teachers, join the waitlist.
Sources
All read on 7 November 2026.
- OpenAI, Terms of Use (age rule: 13 or the minimum age in your country; parent's or guardian's permission under 18): openai.com/policies/row-terms-of-use
- Google, Gemini Apps Help, "What you need to sign in to Gemini Apps" (a personal Google Account; a Family Link parent can turn off Gemini for users under 13): support.google.com/gemini/answer/13278668
- Google Account Help, "Age requirements on Google Accounts" (13 is the minimum age to manage your own Google Account where no other age is listed, and India is not listed; parents can create and manage a younger child's account with Family Link): support.google.com/accounts/answer/1350409
- Press Information Bureau (MeitY), BHASHINI: Transforming Maha Kumbh through Multilingual Innovation, 16 January 2025 (what Bhashini is, who runs it, 22+ languages): static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2025/jan/doc2025116486101.pdf
- Bhashini app listing, National e-Governance Division (free; translation between Indian languages, voice to text, speech from text): apps.apple.com/in/app/id6446089978
- Microsoft Source Asia, "India's schoolteachers are drafting better lesson plans faster, thanks to a copilot", 8 February 2024: news.microsoft.com/source/asia/features/indias-schoolteachers-are-drafting-better-lesson-plans-faster-thanks-to-a-copilot
- Cornell Chronicle, "AI tool makes culturally appropriate lessons for teachers in India", 8 October 2026: news.cornell.edu/node/333759
- OpenAI, "New AI classifier for indicating AI-written text" (note added 20 July 2023: withdrawn for its low rate of accuracy): openai.com/index/new-ai-classifier-for-indicating-ai-written-text
- The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (child defined in section 2; children's data in section 9): www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2024/06/2bf1f0e9f04e6fb4f8fef35e82c42aa5.pdf
Tool names are given as examples, not endorsements; we are not paid by any of them. This is general information for teachers, not legal advice; follow your school's and state's rules.