NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over the increase in suicides of students from marginalised communities, CJI D Y Chandrachud on Saturday urged educational institutions to reshape our legal education model to make empathy a core value of our legal system.
The CJI said that educational institutions should not only limit themselves to promoting competition but also aid students in shaping their outlook towards life with empathy as a crucial element. Delivering the convocation address at NALSAR, he said that lack of empathy has adverse effects on students and when students leave their homes, it becomes the responsibility of educational institutions to establish a bond of institutional friendship with the students.
“Lack of empathy in educational institutions has adverse effects on students. I have been emphasizing on the mental health of lawyers, but equally important is the mental health of students. Not only must our educational curriculum inculcate a sense of compassion among students, but the academic leaders must also be sensitive to the concerns of students,” the CJI said.
“In our educational institutions, we tend to focus a lot on excellence. We are taught that our lives can be better only if we excel in our studies or professional life. However, education can only be complete, if we nurture the values of empathy and compassion. Excellence cannot go without empathy,” the CJI said.
Referring to the incident of suicide of a Dalit student at IIT Bombay and recalling another incident of suicide of an Adivasi student at National Law University, Odisha last year, the CJI said that one of the most noted senior educationalists, Sukhadeo Thorat had noted that if almost all those who have died by suicide in particular situations are Dalits and Adivasis, then it shows a pattern.