Beyond Marks and Degrees: Why Empathy Must Be Part of Education
The purpose of education is not only to help children succeed, but also to help them understand what responsible success looks like.
Gowher Bhat
Education is often measured through marks, degrees and academic achievements. Parents want their children to perform well in examinations, find good jobs and build secure futures. Schools work hard to improve results, while students spend much of their time preparing for tests. These goals matter, but education has a wider purpose. It should also help young people understand others, handle differences and treat people with respect.
A student may excel in every subject yet struggle to understand a classmate who feels excluded. Another may earn excellent marks but find it difficult to accept a different opinion. Academic knowledge helps us solve problems, but it does not automatically teach us how to respond to someone else’s pain. That is where empathy becomes important.
Empathy is the ability to recognise and understand another person’s feelings and perspective. It does not require us to agree with everyone or accept every action. It asks us to pause before judging and consider what another person might be experiencing. Sometimes, that effort begins with a simple question: What might this person be going through?
Children begin learning these lessons long before they understand the word empathy. They observe how adults speak to one another, handle disagreements and treat people who have little to offer in return. When parents listen patiently, admit their mistakes and speak respectfully during difficult moments, they demonstrate how consideration works in everyday life. Children learn from these actions as much as they learn from direct advice.
Schools offer another important setting for this development. Classrooms bring together students with different personalities, abilities and interests. Working and learning together gives them opportunities to practise patience, share responsibilities and recognise that people do not always think alike.
A student struggling with a subject may need encouragement rather than ridicule. A quiet child may need time to feel comfortable speaking in front of others. A mistake may call for correction, but it need not become a source of public embarrassment. Such responses do not require expensive resources. They require teachers to recognise that every student deserves dignity.
This approach does not mean abandoning discipline. Children need boundaries, and teachers must maintain an environment where learning can take place. However, firmness and kindness can exist together. A student can be held accountable without being humiliated. When children understand why their behaviour was wrong, they have a better opportunity to learn from it.
Research offers further reasons to take social and emotional development seriously. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), in its 2024 report Social and Emotional Skills for Better Lives, examined these skills among students in participating countries and regions. The report identified associations between social and emotional skills and several outcomes, including academic performance, well-being and aspirations. These findings do not establish that empathy alone causes better results, but they show why education should consider more than examination scores.
The consequences of neglecting emotional development can be seen in bullying. A remark that seems amusing to one student may leave another feeling ashamed or isolated. Repeated teasing and exclusion can damage a child’s confidence and sense of belonging.
UNICEF’s report Behind the Numbers: Ending School Violence and Bullying examines the scale and effects of violence and bullying in schools worldwide. It highlights the importance of creating learning environments where children can feel safe.
Clear rules and timely intervention are essential to preventing such behaviour. Students also need to understand that their words and actions have consequences. A joke is not harmless simply because the person making it finds it funny. Similarly, watching someone being mistreated without offering support can leave that person feeling even more alone. Learning to speak up respectfully is one way children can put consideration into practice.
Literature can help develop this understanding. Stories introduce young readers to people whose circumstances may differ from their own. Through characters facing loss, disappointment, friendship or difficult choices, children encounter experiences they may never have faced personally. Discussing these stories encourages them to look beyond appearances and consider why someone acted in a particular way.
Teachers can strengthen this process by inviting students to explain their interpretations rather than simply memorise answers. Asking why a character felt hurt, for instance, encourages reflection. Such discussions also show students that people can read the same situation differently without necessarily being foolish or dishonest.
These lessons extend to the digital world. Children and teenagers can now communicate instantly, often without seeing the person who will receive their words. A comment posted in anger can cause lasting embarrassment, while sharing a private photograph can damage trust. Digital responsibility should therefore include a moment of reflection before posting or forwarding anything. Young people need to understand that the screen between two people does not remove the responsibility to treat each other well.
Empathy is equally valuable in adult life. Differences arise at work, within families and among friends. People may disagree about decisions, priorities or personal beliefs. Understanding another perspective does not mean abandoning one’s own convictions. It makes it possible to discuss differences without turning every disagreement into a personal attack.
At the same time, compassion must be accompanied by sound judgement. Children should know that they can refuse unreasonable demands, protect their boundaries and seek help when someone treats them badly. Understanding another person’s feelings does not mean excusing harmful conduct. Rather, it helps people respond thoughtfully while remaining clear about what is right and wrong.
Schools already face considerable demands, from completing syllabuses to assessing students’ progress. Empathy need not become another complicated requirement. It can be encouraged through ordinary classroom interactions: listening without interruption, sharing group responsibilities, resolving disagreements fairly and giving every student a chance to participate. Small, consistent practices can make respect part of the learning environment.
Parents can reinforce these habits through simple conversations. Instead of asking only about homework and marks, they can ask what their children enjoyed, what troubled them and whether they encountered a difficult situation during the day. Listening without immediately dismissing a child’s feelings can help young people express themselves more clearly. It also gives parents an opportunity to guide them towards thoughtful responses.
No child will behave perfectly, and no adult will always set the right example. Emotional maturity develops over time through experience, reflection and guidance. The aim is not to raise children who never make mistakes, but to help them recognise the effects of their actions and take responsibility for them.
Education should prepare young people for examinations, careers and the practical demands of life. It should also help them become individuals who can use their knowledge responsibly and recognise the dignity of others. Academic achievement can create opportunities, but the way people treat those around them also shapes the lives they build.
A report card can show what a student has learned in the classroom. It cannot fully capture the patience shown to a struggling classmate, the courage to challenge unfair treatment or the willingness to listen when another person is hurting. These qualities deserve attention, too.
The purpose of education is not only to help children succeed, but also to help them understand what responsible success looks like. When empathy has a place alongside academic learning, students gain more than knowledge. They gain a better understanding of themselves and the people with whom they share the world.
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