NTA to be restructured; accountability will be fixed, says Pradhan

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 17: In a significant shift from its role, the National Testing Agency (NTA) will now focus on only higher education entrance exams, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Tuesday.

This change means that the agency will no longer oversee recruitment examinations.

Announcing exam reforms, Pradhan that the idea is to conduct “error-free exams” for which “accountability” will be fixed.

He also said that the Government is considering moving to computer-adaptive tests and tech-driven entrance exams soon.

On NEET-UG examinations, the Minister said they are in talks with Union Health Minister JP Nadda on whether to hold the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG), which was mired in controversy this year, as a computer-based test (CBT) or pen paper-based format.

“Two meetings have been held with the Health Minister. We will announce the modalities as early as possible”, he told the media.

“NTA will be limited to conducting only entrance exams for higher education and will not conduct any recruitment exams from next year”, the Minister said.

He also said the NTA would be restructured in 2025 with 10 additional posts. “There will be many changes in the functioning of NTA to ensure there is zero-error testing”, he said.

“We want NTA to be a specialist body. We have already started recruitment.”

He also said that the Common University Entrance Test (CUET- UG) will continue to be conducted once a year.

He also said they are planning to set up a grievance redressal cell.

The Education Ministry announced a series of amendments as part of examination reforms based on the recommendation of a high-level panel. The panel, headed by Prof. K Radhakrishnan, former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Board of Governors (BoG) of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur, was set up earlier this year following the alleged leak of the medical entrance NEET exam and a series of cancellations of other exams due to suspected leaks and other glitches.

The committee was formed to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through NTA.

Pradhan said a 3-member high-powered steering committee will be set up to ensure that all the recommendations are being followed. The committee will be headed by Prof. Radhakrishnan only. “It will be a neutral body”, the Minister said.

In July, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition demanding cancellation and re-test of NEET UG 2024 exam. The CJI had said no data was on record to indicate a systemic leak of question papers and other malpractices. (PTI)