Ethics Integrity and Aptitude is a very important part of the UPSC Syllabus as an aspirant can secure a very good rank if he or she is scoring high in GS 4. The ethics syllabus demands for a bit of your special attention, which means you need to be logically good to give a valid and just reason behind every philosophy and related thoughts. There are many aspirants who think that ethics is a very tough subject but the reality is – Ethics is a subject based on logics and behavioral knowledge.
Steps for a right track of ethics preparation…
- Awareness about the subject – It is very important to get well aware of the subject you are going to start for the IAS exam preparation. The hugeness of the syllabus and limited period of the preparation time is the only reason for making the exam tough. You should always know all the pros and cons of the subject. So that you can synchronize everything with your study habit.
The awareness starts with – knowing the Ethics syllabus is your first step towards the ethics preparation.
- Divide the ethics syllabus as per its units – Ethics and Human Interface; Attitude; Aptitude and foundational values; Emotional intelligence; Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world; Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration; Probity in Governance; Case Studies on above issues
- Exam Pattern – The second step should be the analysis of the exam pattern. You can check the division of the question pattern by the UPSC. You can easily draw your own line of pattern for preparation.
- Type of Questions – You should download the previous years question paper and match with the syllabus of ethics. You should also check the weightage of the questions asked in the exam relevant to the exam.
- Ethics Syllabus Coverage – You can join some classes for ethics as one the most famous teacher for ethics is Tirthankar Roychowdhary Sir. He is known for his teaching techniques, notes and study material.
- Ethics Answer Writing – Once you are done with the syllabus, you will start with the answer writing process. You can also join any test series or answer writing for a good feedback mechanism.
- Case Studies writing practice – Case Studies writing can be enriched by incorporating the current affairs, Thinkers and Philosopher. You can check the book for Unit V in the book 70 Thinkers & 70 Thoughts by Tirthankar Roychowdhary Sir (EDEN IAS).
- Attempting a greater Number of Questions – There are many aspirants who have a great knowledge base but the presentation of answer and the time management are not planned. You should plan your time management through regular practice of ethics questions. You can also download ethics pdf of question sets from EDEN IAS website.
- Revision of the Ethics Syllabus for upsc – Revision is the key to success for any competitive examination. In ethics you get a lot of theories which you should keep revising. The revision can be done by some study material Eg: Ethics Snippet for Revision by Eden IAS and Compendium of Ethical Thinkers and Thoughts.
- Ethics Recourses – The best will be if you can go for a limited set of resources for ethics – You can check the book Theoretical Framework on Ethics to cover the syllabus with very good examples and relevant graphics. You can check this book as a replacement to the book Lexicon. Connect the current affairs for case studies and back your answers by facts, reports and thoughts by thinkers and philosophers. Your answer can be taken as a sophisticated one if you can use the subject relevant terminologies related to the subject. You can check the book A to Z of Ethics Terminology.
- Maintain Simplicity – A good mentor always makes the syllabus easy for you, which implies that you should not complicate your answer in the examination. Make it easy, unbiased and constitutional. You are going to need this subject in your daily life as a civil servant so you should take it with a greater zeal. Give your best to ethics and gain edge.