IAS Prelims 2014: Why analysis of the Syllabus is important

Q. What is the importance of understanding and analysing the IAS Prelims syllabus?

A: Understanding the syllabus for the IAS Prelims Exam is very important for the candidates in order to channelize their energy in the right direction. If a candidate fails to understand the syllabus clearly, it can lead to studying the irrelevant topics and hence wastage of time and effort. It can also lead to leaving out some of the important areas that are included in the syllabus. This makes it absolutely indispensable for the candidates to understand and analyse the IAS Prelims Syllabus properly.

The most important and the foremost step, here, is to take a thorough reading of the syllabus to get an idea about what all is broadly included in the exam. This will help the candidates further analyse which topics would be included under these broader topics.

The syllabus also needs to be analysed in the light of the previous years’ questions.  Some of the topics are not explicitly mentioned in the syllabus but are included within some broader topics. For example, Art and Culture is not directly mentioned under the IAS Prelims syllabus but as we look at the past years’ questions, we understand that quite a few questions have been asked from this topic which means that it has been implicitly mentioned under the Indian History section.Thus it is also important to read between the lines while analysing the syllabus which can be done by a combined analysis of the syllabus and previous years’ questions.