E-Paper
NTA to only conduct entrance tests as part of exam reforms: Dharmendra Pradhan
The panel also recommended usage of Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) across the country as test centres.
The National Testing Agency (NTA) will, from 2025, conduct only entrance exams for higher education institutions and not recruitment exams, a move aimed at improving its functioning –– the agency has been roiled by controversies, mostly around paper leaks –– and in keeping with the recommendations of a high-level committee set up in June 2024.
The change was announced by Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday. He also announced the restructuring of NTA, with 10 new posts covering administration, digital infrastructure, IT security being created in an effort aimed at error-free examination process for students. He added that the ministries of education and health are discussing whether the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Undergraduate (NEET-UG), for admission to medical colleges, be conducted in online or offline mode.
The test is currently conducted in offline mode, with candidates filling in multiple-choice answers in an answer sheet, but the process has been plagued by irregularities.
Following widespread reports of malpractices, with the matter even reaching the Supreme Court, the government set up a seven-member panel headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chair Dr K Radhakrishnan in June to suggest ways to improve NTA’s functioning. The committee submitted its report to the government on October 21.
Among the recommendations of the panel is one on NTA focusing on entrance exams for now. “NTA should primarily conduct the entrance examinations... Enhancing its scope for other examinations may be considered after the capacity of NTA is augmented,” reads the relevant recommendation.
Established in 2017, NTA conducts major entrance examinations such as the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main for engineering; the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) for medicine; and the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for general Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes in central universities. It also conducts recruitment exams for several government agencies including National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), Delhi High Court, Employment Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and for several posts in central government universities.
The panel also recommended usage of Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) across the country as test centres.
“It is possible to integrate such Testing Centres from KVs, NVs, universities and institutes to establish a nationwide network of about 400-500 testing centres within a time frame of a year or so, which will provide about 2.0-2.5 lakh testing capacity for conducting CBT in one session nationwide. Eventually, one could envisage that every district headquarters in the country should have a standardised and well-equipped CBT Testing Centre,” the report said.
NEET Exam
The Supreme Court had in July dismissed the petitions demanding cancellation and re-test of NEET UG 2024 . Former CJI DY Chandrachud said there was no data on record to suggest a systemic leak of NEET question papers or other malpractices.
The mode of NEET-UG 2025 examination is yet to be decided, Pradhan said.
“There is an administrative ministry for each exam. For example, the administrative ministry of JEE mains is the education ministry and it will be held in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode with our permission starting from January 2025. The administrative ministry for NEET exam is the health ministry. We have conducted two rounds of review meeting to decide the mode of NEET exam. NTA will fulfill the expectations of the health ministry for conducting the NEET exam either in CBT mode or in Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) mode. It is our priority to ensure zero error as a service provider, but the mode of examination will be decided by the administrative ministry. We are having dialogues with the health ministry and a decision will soon be taken,“ he added.
The committee pointed out that offline exams involve many third part agencies to print, transport, and storing question papers which increases opportunities for potential leakage.
Pradeep Rawat, founder of the Parents Association in Gurgaon emphasised the need for transparency. “Reforms for betterment are always welcome, but NTA should be transparent in its information related to exams in advance and not change rules during examination.”
The Radhakrishnan panel has suggested the formation of a “high-powered steering committee” for “effective monitoring of the implementation of the recommendations.”
Pradhan said this is being done.
“It will be a three-member committee. We have requested Dr Radhakrishnan to be part of the committee. It will be a neutral body...NTA will follow the recommendations in letter and spirit and there will be no compromise.”
