National Testing Agency

Last updated
National Testing Agency
AbbreviationNTA
EstablishedNovember 2017
(6 years ago) (2017-11)
Founder Government of India,
Ministry of Education (India),
Union Council of Ministers
Legal statusOperational
PurposeTo conduct various entrance examinations nationwide
Subodh Kumar Singh, IAS
Parent organization
 Ministry of Education (India)
Website nta.ac.in

National Testing Agency (NTA) is an autonomous agency under the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education of India. It has been approved by the Union Council of Ministers and established in November 2017 to conduct entrance examinations admissions and recruitment. NTA is responsible for conducting numerous national level exams for admission and fellowship in higher educational institutions related to engineering, medical, management and pharmacy. [1] [2]

Contents

History

The roots of the agency can be traced to the Programme of Action 1992, related to National Policy of Education 1986, which mentioned conducting national level common entrance tests to professional and non-professional programmes of study. [3] Its actual start was in 2010 with a report submitted to the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) by a committee consisting of some of the directors of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), which recommended that the national testing agency be "created by an Act of Parliament". The report mentioned that a statutory agency can ensure independence and transparency in testing of the magnitude that was being envisaged. [4]

In 2013 the MHRD constituted a seven member task force to "prepare a blue print for creating a special purpose vehicle to take the concept of National Testing Agency (NTA) forward". [5] This was following a decision made in April 2013 to set up the agency. [5]

In 2017 an announcement about NTA was made by the Finance Minister in the budget speech of 2017, and this was followed by cabinet approval. The government appointed Vineet Joshi as the first Director-General of the agency. [6]

On 7 July 2018, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar stated during a press conference that the NTA will be holding the Joint Entrance Examination – Main (JEE Main) and the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET UG) twice a year, and will also be holding National Eligibility Test (NET), Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) and Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT). [7]

Administration

The agency is administered by a governing body which includes a chairperson, a secretary and eight or more officials representing different national level institutes. [8]

Budget

Union cabinet has granted an initial amount of ₹25 crore (equivalent to ₹35 croreorUS$4.4 million in 2023) to NTA [9] to start its operations in the first year. [10] The agency is financed by the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education. [11]

Exams

Following are the exams conducted by NTA every year. [12]

For universities and colleges

For recruitment

For Schools

Controversies

2020 JEE Main Assam topper scam

In 2020 Neel Nakshatra Das, a candidate for JEE Mains used a substitute to give the exam. He subsequently scored 99.8 percentile in the exam and topped in his state, Assam. [13] [14] Seven people have been arrested including Bhargav Deka, owner of a city-based coaching institute Global Edu Light, Tata Consultancy Services employees, [15] the candidate (Neel Nakshatra Das), Neel's father - Dr. Jyotirmoy Das, and an invigilator. [16] [17] [18]

NEET (UG) discrepancies

In NEET (UG) 2020 exam, NTA incorrectly declared that Vidhi Suryavanshi of Madhya Pradesh’s Chhindwara district had only scored 6 marks which were later found out to be false after Vidhi committed suicide. [19] [20] Vidhi's response sheet proved that she had actually scored 590 marks. [21]

In NEET (UG) 2020 exam, NTA had allegedly declared Mridul Rawat as failed. [22] [23] Rawat claimed that he challenged the NTA and after rechecking his OMR sheet and Answer Key, it was found that he was an All India Topper (ST Category). Rawat also claimed that even after the rechecking, in the revised scorecard, his score was 650 but only three hundred twenty-nine were written in words. [24] NTA refuted the claims of Mridul Rawat. [25] Director-General Vineet Joshi of NTA said “An aspirant has claimed that he has 650 marks whereas he has obtained 329 marks in NEET 2020 results. The emails purported to have been written by NTA are also fake. This news has been broadcast by some local news channels in some cities. This news was totally fake, fabricated, and one-sided and news channels should have confirmed from NTA prior to broadcasting it. In the instant case, a complaint was being filed by NTA with the cybersecurity cell under the IT Act at Noida, UP.” [26]

JEE (Main) 2022 technical issues

National Testing Agency was widely criticized for the improper conduction of JEE (Main) 2022 examination. Many students faced technical issues during the examination, which resulted in lower score. [27] Glitches in answer key and response sheet of the exam were also a serious problem for the students. The agency has not considered the reconduction of the examination. [28]

Apparent Misconduct and irregularity in JEE (Main) 2024

NTA has been criticized for irregularities in the difficulty level of question papers of JEE (Main), which leads to normalization of marks and ultimately, lower scores of candidates. [29]

JEE Mains 2024 Session 1 (January)

Discrepancy of appearing students in the initial four shifts of January 27 and January 29 has been reported by many students. NTA allegedly distributed candidates erratically over the 10 shifts. Claims state that an absurdly larger appearance of students on the first two days was observed which caused major disparities in percentiles of the candidates. A surge in cutoff was also observed which further caused despair among some students. Multiple requests under the RTI Act have been filed seeking evidence backed statistical record of number of students appearing in respective shifts. [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] However NTA released the data in which no uneven distribution of candidates was found. [35]

JEE Mains 2024 Session 2 (April)

The agency stated that one case of impersonation and nine cases of cheating or other unfair means were reported on 4 April. It was later reported that the impersonation case was reported in Noida while other nine cases were reported in various parts of the country. The offenders were detected through artificial intelligence enabled monitoring and biometric verification. [36] [37] In its concluding press release, the agency highlighted that 39 candidates have been disqualified for a period of three years due to their involvement in unfair practices during the examination. [38]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "How one of world's biggest 'exam agencies' is making tests smarter, less stressful" . The Times of India. Archived from the original on 2019-08-13. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
  2. ↑ "Centre approves creation of National Testing Agency". The Hindu. 10 November 2017. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  3. ↑ "Programme on Action 1992" (PDF). Mhrd.gov.in. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2018-11-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. 1 2 Nanda, Prashant K. (2013-06-01). "Government sets up agency to streamline entrance exams". mint. Archived from the original on 2023-11-14. Retrieved 2023-10-03.
  6. ↑ "Cabinet approves creation of National Testing Agency". Currentaffairs.gktoday.in. 11 November 2017. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  7. ↑ "JEE Main 2019 To Be Held Online, Twice By National Testing Agency (NTA): Check Complete Schedule Here". Ndtv.com. New Delhi Television. 8 July 2018. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  8. ↑ "Governing Body". Nta.ac.in. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  9. ↑ "Centre approves creation of National Testing Agency". The Hindu. 10 November 2017. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "Union Cabinet approves creation of National Testing Agency". The Times of India. 2017-11-10. ISSN   0971-8257. Archived from the original on 2023-08-18.
  11. ↑ "Creation of National Testing Agency (NTA) for conducting of entrance examinations for higher education institutions- reg" (PDF). Ministry of Education (India) . 2018-09-05. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-28. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  12. ↑ "NTA Exam | India". exams.nta.ac.in. Archived from the original on 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  13. ↑ "Prime accused in JEE fraud case absconding in Assam". The Hindu. October 30, 2020. Archived from the original on November 3, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020– via www.thehindu.com.
  14. ↑ "Prime accused in Assam JEE Main scam arrested - Times of India". The Times of India. 2 November 2020. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  15. ↑ Tata Consultancy Services provides infrastructural and human resources support to NTA for conducting the exams.
  16. ↑ "Prime Accused In Assam JEE (Main) Scam Arrested From Guwahati Airport". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-02. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
  17. ↑ "JEE scam: Assam Police launch manhunt to nab coaching centre owner, IT professional". DNA India. October 31, 2020. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  18. ↑ anand, manoj (October 30, 2020). "JEE topper used proxy to write paper, arrested". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on November 2, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  19. ↑ "MP teen hangs self after 6 marks in NEET; OMR sheet reveals actual score 590". The New Indian Express. 24 October 2020. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  20. ↑ "NEET Results 2020: 18-year-old Chhindwara student commits suicide after getting 6 marks; OMR sheet reveals actual score". DNA India. October 23, 2020. Archived from the original on October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  21. ↑ Desk, India com News (October 23, 2020). "18-Year-Old Dies by Suicide After Scoring 6 Marks in NEET Results, OMR Sheet Reveals She Scored 590". India News, Breaking News, Entertainment News | India.com. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  22. ↑ "NEET 2020: Low scorer turns to be topper in ST category, NTA comes to rescue". Hindustan Times. October 20, 2020. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Major blunder in NEET 2020 exam results revealed, All India topper declared as failed". Zee News. October 20, 2020. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  24. ↑ "Major blunder! NTA declares NEET 2020 All India Topper as failed". DNA India. October 20, 2020. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  25. ↑ "NTA to file FIR for fake news claiming incorrect NEET result". The New Indian Express. 21 October 2020. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
  26. ↑ "NTA refutes NEET aspirant's claim of AIR 1 Rank in ST category". Hindustan Times. October 20, 2020. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved October 20, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Server glitch sparks chaos at JEE centre in Hyderabad". The New Indian Express. 24 June 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-08-27. Retrieved 2022-08-27.
  28. ↑ "'Technical glitches denied the candidates a fair attempt at the JEE Main 2022', writes Karti P Chidambaram". Archived from the original on 2024-02-14. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  29. ↑ "JEE Mains Result 2024: Students raise concerns over alleged error in percentile calculation". The Times of India. 2024-02-13. ISSN   0971-8257. Archived from the original on 2024-02-13. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  30. ↑ "JEE Main 2024 results at jeemain.ntaonline.in; students claim error in percentile calculation". 13 February 2024. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  31. ↑ "JEE Mains Result 2024: Students raise concerns over alleged error in percentile calculation". The Times of India. 13 February 2024. Archived from the original on 13 February 2024. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  32. ↑ "JEE Main 2024 Result: Students allege error in percentile calculation, NTA dismisses claims". 13 February 2024. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  33. ↑ "JEE Main 2024 Results: Students Express Concerns over Alleged Errors in Percentile Calculation". Archived from the original on 2024-02-14. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  34. ↑ "JEE Main 2024 Session 1 Result: Students Allege 'Error' in Percentile Calculation by NTA". Archived from the original on 2024-02-15. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  35. ↑ "NTA: No uneven distribution of candidates within shifts in JEE (Main)". The Times of India. 2024-02-16. ISSN   0971-8257. Archived from the original on 2024-03-02. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  36. ↑ "AI helps catch impersonator on Day 1 of JEE (M)". The Times of India. 2024-04-05. ISSN   0971-8257. Archived from the original on 2024-04-16. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  37. ↑ "Press Release : Case of impersonation using unfair means caught during the conduct of the JEE Main 2024 Session 2 Examination" (PDF). National Testing Agency. 2024-04-04. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-04-06. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  38. ↑ "Press Release" (PDF). National Testing Agency . 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
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