Keeping up with its efforts to sensitise students about law as a career, the IDIA Mumbai chapter started its sensitisations for the present academic year with two back-to-back sensitisations. The first sensitisation was conducted at the Hume High School, Mumbai on 24th August 2016, and the second at the Chandrabhan Sharma College, Powai on 27th August 2016.
Starting a new culture, the IDIA team was accompanied by professionals from the legal field, who could share their experiences of law school, and law as a career with the school students. Ms. Khushnaaz, Mr. Sanjeev and Ms. Asmita Roy from the legal team of Mahindra & Mahindra, and Ms. Aditi Rani from Advaya Legal joined the student volunteers from IDIA Mumbai chapter for the sensitisations.
Sensitisation at the Hume High School
The sensitisation at the Hume High School was conducted in two sessions. These sessions were attended by about a 100 students from class 11th and 12th of the school. The first session was attended by a very enthusiastic and interested batch of about fifty students from class 11th and was followed by a session for a more determined and focused batch of class 12th students. The sessions were kick started with an introduction to the option of pursuing law as an undergraduate course and the perks of taking up law as a career. Further, the students were informed about the entrance examinations conducted by various law universities, the preparations required for these exams, and the life at these universities. Throughout the session, students were informed about the role of IDIA as an organisation that would help them at every step of their pursuit of a career in law.
The sessions were concluded by Ms. Kushnaaz and Ms. Asmita from Mahindra & Mahindra, who shared their experiences of law universities, and gave invaluable insights about the life of a corporate lawyer. It was a pleasant surprise to see that the students responded amazingly well to the talks by the speakers from the legal field, and showed great interest in listening to their experiences.
The sessions were followed by IDIA’s National Aptitude Test, a test designed by IDIA to select prospective trainees for law entrance examinations with an aptitude for law. It was attended by almost all the students who were a part of the sessions.
Sensitisation at the Chandrabhan Sharma College
The IDIA Mumbai team conducted its next sensitisation on 27th August 2016 at the Chandrabhan Sharma College, Powai. This was the first time that the IDIA Mumbai team had ventured to a school in Powai for conducting sensitisation. The sensitisation witnessed an attendance of 130 enthusiastic students studying in class 12th, who were eager to explore the idea of taking up law as their career.
The session began by sensitising the students about the need of law in society, and how they could help their communities by taking up law as a career. Then, the students were shown the video about the journey of IDIA, its volunteers and the students who have benefited from it. The IDIA team of student volunteers was accompanied by Mr. Sanjeev from Mahindra & Mahindra, and Ms. Aditi from Advaya Legal. While interacting with the students, Mr. Sanjeev threw light on the work of a corporate lawyer. He also informed the students that law is a discipline that can be pursued along with preparations for becoming a Chartered Accountant or Company Secretary, the popular career options among the commerce students. Ms. Aditi gave important insight into the practical aspects of being a lawyer. She caught the attention of the students by telling them about the prospective Myntra-Jabong deal, and the role of drafting and research in the matter.
The students were very interactive and smart. They were able to answer most of the questions posed to them. The students were interested in legal studies after knowing about a large number of career choices that are available to a law graduate. After an hour-long interactive session, an aptitude test was conducted for the students. As many as 85 students appeared for the test. The Principal and the teachers were very co-operative and helped the team in every way possible. They emphasised the importance and scope of the law as a career to the students. Last but not the least, the sensitisation was not only beneficial for the students, but also a great learning experience for the team.
Both the sensitisations got an amazing response from the students owing to the presence of lawyers from Mahindra & Mahindra and Advaya Legal, as the students got a chance to meet professionals who gave them a first-hand account of their experiences as a law student, and as legal professionals.