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05 Aug 2019
GS Paper 4
Theoretical Questions
What does the following quotation mean to you in the present context?
“ It's easier to train aptitude than attitude.” (250 words)
Approach
Approach
- Briefly distinguish aptitude and attitude.
- Explain the given statement by giving suitable examples.
- Give conclusion.
Introduction
- Aptitude is a component of a competency to do a certain kind of work at a certain level while Attitude refers to a psychological response to a particular situation, person, thing or an issue. Attitude can be positive as well as negative.
- Aptitude relates with talent and competency of a person whereas attitude is associated with character or virtue.
Body
- Aptitude can be developed or changed through training and capacity building whereas attitude is relatively permanent. When people have the right attitude they are both motivated and adaptable which makes them more open to learning new skills. With the right attitude and enough effort most new skills can be mastered quickly.
- Whereas improving attitude is often about changing behaviors which is always much more difficult to do, as the person needs to be changed and without the right attitude this is unlikely to happen.
- We're always going to face challenges, difficult times, and it's in these moments that things like determination, tenacity and resilience come to the fore. Having the right skills but lacking the will to use them isn't going to help us overcome the challenges and achieve success.
- A civil servant needs the right attitude to serve people. Without the will to serve, even the highly skilled and talented professional will not perform his duty to serve people. On the other hand, a civil servant with a negative attitude may indulge in deeds like corruption, harming the society and nation at large.
A positive attitude directs and guides a civil servant to utilise his aptitude for the welfare of society. For example,
- Recently, an IAS officer volunteered to collect relief materials for the Kerala flood victims.
- District collector of Banka, Bihar has launched the Unnayan Banka programme, an interactive online-offline method that has reinvented education using cutting-edge technology such as AI and big data analytics. In fact, such has been the success of this brilliant project that the Centre is replicating it across 5,000 village schools in India.This incredible initiative beat Singapore to win the International Innovation Award 2018 at the biennial Commonwealth CAPAM Conference.
Conclusion
Aptitude training can be done through measures focussing on skill development and capacity building, but to inculcate right attitude needs moral training and that is a slow process. The person needs constant motivation and dedication to develop the right attitude.
