New Delhi: The government on Tuesday announced a major overhaul of the examination system at the National Testing Agency (NTA), including a four-tier paper checking process, removal of 600 experts along with onboarding of new ones and CISF-secured office premises.
Under fire over the recent lapses in the UGC-NET papers and earlier the NEET-UG exam paper leak, the Education Ministry has gone into overdrive to set things in order.
After a meeting chaired on Monday by Education Minister Pralhad Joshi, who came in after his predecessor Dharmendra Pradhan had to resign following protests over the NEET-UG paper fiasco, the ministry announced on Tuesday evening that Joshi had directed that all necessary security and related infrastructural facilities should be put in place for the smooth conduct of examinations.
Following directions from the minister, NTA Director General Abhishek Singh apprised the ministry of actions taken by the Agency, which is responsible for several examinations in the country.
“A revamp of the examination team was undertaken with 600 experts being removed and new experts being onboarded,” the ministry said while listing out the steps taken so far.
A four-tier question paper checking system will also be put in place to strengthen the scrutiny of examination papers, it added.
Besides, 20-25 officials will be inducted in the next two to three weeks, while further induction plan was also reviewed.
Also, NTA offices will be shifted to new premises on a war-footing, where security will be reinforced with CISF teams, the ministry said. Sources said the NTA office will be moved to Minto Road from Okhla in the national capital.
The decisions come after the NTA faced renewed flak from Opposition parties and several protesting student groups following the Sunday night announcement of re-test for the UGC-NET examination for scholars. They were demanding that the NTA be scrapped, saying its “repeated lapses” have put students’ academic and career plans at risk.
Sources in the NTA, however, asserted that it had acted in the interest of students and said internal processes and protocols are being reviewed to ensure that all exams are fair and error-free in the future.
The agency proactively looked into the complaints and decided to conduct re-tests, with all corrective measures being taken in the overall interest of candidates and to strengthen the foundation of a more accountable examination system, sources said.
In a major crackdown in the NEET paper leak controversy, the National Testing Agency terminated 47 officials in July. Later, it axed more officials, taking the total number to over 50.
Ten new professional leadership positions, including chief technology officer, chief finance officer, CISO, GM (test security) and GM (R and D and psychometrics), have been advertised and are being onboarded. Domain specialists are also being brought in from the private sector for cyber security, psychometrics, question paper design and other specialised areas, it said.
The minister has directed that strict compliance be ensured with the established exam protocols and that a complete overhaul of the confidential operations (CONOPS) architecture, secluded rooms, air-gapped systems and device deposit protocols be implemented on a war-footing, the ministry said.
The NTA has been directed to conduct a thorough audit of all exam processes and submit a report on the corrective actions taken, the ministry said.
