(a) Usually schools, working in remote areas, do not fully comply with government regulations. However, if the rules are enforced strictly, it would lead to most schools closing down. How should an administrator strike a balance between enforcement of rules and educational rights of children? (b) In international relations, ethical considerations are often subjugated to the strategic interests of nation-states. Discuss this from an ethical perspective.
Approach · directive: “how / discuss”
What it asks · (a) Balance strict enforcement of school norms with children's right to education in remote areas; (b) examine, ethically, how states place strategic interest above moral principle.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- (a) Explain how an administrator should balance enforcement of rules against the educational rights of children in remote schools
- (b) Discuss, from an ethical perspective, the subordination of ethics to strategic interests in international relations
Open with · (a) Rules exist to secure children's learning and safety — closing schools to enforce them defeats their purpose; (b) realists treat morality as a luxury among states, idealists as the basis of lasting order.
Cover
- (a) Values in conflict: rule of law and minimum standards (RTE norms, safety) against Article 21A and access to schooling.
- (a) Graded approach (Aristotle's equity): separate non-negotiables (safety, child protection, teacher presence) from infrastructure norms; give time-bound compliance plans.
- (a) Support over punishment: funds, teachers, convergence with Samagra Shiksha, community monitoring; closure only as a last resort with alternative schooling.
- (b) Reality: arms sales to abusive regimes, silence on atrocities, vaccine nationalism and climate free-riding show interest overriding ethics.
- (b) Ethical lens: Kant's respect for persons, the consequentialist case that stability needs justice, Gandhi's unity of means and ends.
- (b) Convergence: Article 51(c), Panchsheel, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, Vaccine Maitri and Operation Dost (2023) show ethics and interest can align.
Close with · Enlightened self-interest — pursuing interests within ethical limits — serves both children in remote schools and nations in an interdependent world.
Add value (verified)
- Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book V: equity is a correction of law where it is defective owing to its universality. Nicomachean Ethics, Book V (trans. W. D. Ross) — The Internet Classics Archive, MIT ↗“And this is the nature of the equitable, a correction of law where it is defective owing to its universality.”
- Thucydides, the Melian Dialogue: the Athenians tell the Melians that right is in question only between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. History of the Peloponnesian War, Book V (trans. Richard Crawley) — The Internet Classics Archive, MIT ↗“right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.”
- Article 51 (Directive Principles): the State shall endeavour to promote international peace, maintain just and honourable relations between nations, and foster respect for international law and treaty obligations. Constitution of India (as on 2023) — Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice ↗“51. Promotion of international peace and security.—The State shall endeavour to— (a) promote international peace and security; (b) maintain just and honourable relations between nations; (c) foster respect for international law and treaty obligations in the dealings of organised peoples with one another;”
- Operation Dost (February 2023): India's search-and-rescue and medical assistance after the 6 February 2023 earthquake in Türkiye and Syria. Operation Dost — Embassy of India, Baku, press release, 8 February 2023 ↗“Following the massive earthquake that struck Türkiye and Syria on 6 February 2023, Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi had directed that all possible assistance be extended to the affected people. In pursuance of this, Operation Dost was launched to provide necessary support in terms of search and rescue (SAR) efforts as well as medical assistance.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2026, GS Paper IV — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 393 words (UPSC limit 150) · Minimalist IAS
(a) Enforcing school rules without denying children their right
School norms exist to secure children's learning and safety; enforcing them so strictly that most schools shut defeats their purpose. With elementary education a fundamental right under Article 21A and minimum standards set by the RTE Act, 2009, the administrator must serve the rule's aim, not just its letter.
- Equity as the guide: Aristotle called equity "a correction of law where it is defective owing to its universality"; remote schools are such a case.
| Norm | Response |
|---|---|
| Child safety, teacher presence | Enforce at once |
| Buildings, playgrounds, ratios | Time-bound compliance plan |
| Real danger to children | Close only after an alternative |
- Support before sanction: Samagra Shiksha funds, teacher deputation, shared cluster facilities and community help to bring schools up to norms.
- Conditional recognition: provisional recognition tied to milestones and open inspection, neither blanket closure nor blanket blindness.
- Closure as last resort: only after transport, a hostel or bridge classes are in place.
- Voice and honesty: involve school management committees and parents; report the real state upward and seek norms adapted to remote areas.
Such discretion is proportionality, not laxity: keep children in school while making the school worthy of them.
(b) Ethics and strategic interest in international relations
Thucydides records the Athenians telling the Melians that "the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must". Realists still read world politics this way; idealists reply that order without justice does not last.
- Interest over ethics: arms sold to abusive regimes, silence on allies' atrocities, vaccine nationalism and climate free-riding all show ethics yielding to strategic calculus.
- Kant: peoples, like persons, are ends and never mere means; using a population's suffering as a bargaining chip is wrong whatever the gain.
- Consequences: unjust settlements breed resentment, refugees and conflict; ethical conduct is long-term prudence.
- Gandhi: means shape ends; power gained by unjust means yields an unjust order.
- The realist's due: states are trustees of their own citizens' security; the task is to limit interest, not abolish it.
- India's compass: Article 51(c) directs the State to "foster respect for international law and treaty obligations". Panchsheel, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, Vaccine Maitri and Operation Dost (2023), rescue and medical aid after the Türkiye–Syria earthquake, show interest and ethics reinforcing each other.
Enlightened self-interest, interest pursued within moral limits, is both the realistic and the ethical path in an interdependent world.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.