The Ministry of Education has announced a slew of measures to overhaul the National Testing Agency (NTA), with Union Minister Pralhad Joshi directing stricter adherence to examination protocols, a revamp of confidential operations and a comprehensive audit of all examination processes following recent UGC-NET-related issues.
At a meeting with the Secretary of the Department of Higher Education, the NTA Director General and other senior officials, Joshi reviewed the steps being taken to strengthen the agency’s overall functioning and examination security. The reforms include changes to the NTA’s leadership structure and the recruitment of specialised professionals in key areas.
According to the Ministry of Education, more than 50 staff members have been fired from the NTA as part of the ongoing reforms.The move is among the strong measures being taken to restructure the agency and strengthen accountability. The ministry said the NTA is introducing a new professional leadership structure to improve its technical, financial, security and examination capabilities.
It also said that 10 specialised leadership positions have been advertised and are currently being filled. These include Chief Technology Officer, Chief Finance Officer, Chief Information Security Officer, General Manager for Test Security, and General Manager for Research and Development and Psychometrics. The new positions are intended to bring greater professional expertise into the agency and strengthen its ability to conduct large-scale examinations securely and efficiently. The ministry said domain specialists from the private sector would also be brought in for specialised tasks, including cybersecurity, psychometrics and question-paper design. The move is aimed at strengthening the agency’s technical capabilities and introducing specialised expertise at critical stages of the examination process.
Joshi has directed the NTA to implement a complete overhaul of its confidential operations architecture “on a war footing”. Officials have also been instructed to ensure strict adherence to established examination protocols at every stage of the testing process.The NTA has been directed to identify gaps in existing procedures and implement corrective measures to prevent similar incidents in the near future.
As part of the overhaul, the NTA has also been directed to conduct a comprehensive audit of all examinations. The agency will have to submit a report detailing the findings and corrective actions taken following the audit.The review is expected to cover examination security, confidential operations and other critical processes involved in conducting national-level examinations.
The latest measures come as part of the government’s efforts to strengthen the credibility, security and accountability of examinations conducted by the NTA following recent large scale protests in connection to NEET UG paper leak case that made a massive impact.