{"id":77074,"date":"2025-12-09T11:40:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T06:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=77074"},"modified":"2025-12-09T11:40:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T06:10:31","slug":"nta-under-scrutiny-house-panel-flags-major-exam-lapses-and-calls-for-reform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/nta-under-scrutiny-house-panel-flags-major-exam-lapses-and-calls-for-reform\/","title":{"rendered":"NTA Under Scrutiny: House Panel Flags Major Exam Lapses and Calls for Reform"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>NTA Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Parliamentary Standing Committee has sharply criticised the National Testing Agency (NTA), stating that it \u201chas not inspired much confidence\u201d and must urgently improve its functioning.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The panel highlighted repeated delays in exam results, especially CUET, and noted that despite collecting a surplus of \u20b9448 crore over six years, the NTA has not built adequate in-house capacity to conduct tests independently.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The committee urged the agency to strengthen its systems, infrastructure, and accountability mechanisms to ensure reliable and timely examinations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>About National Testing Agency<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The National Testing Agency (NTA) was established in 2017 as an autonomous, self-sustaining organisation under the Education Ministry (formerly HRD Ministry).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and comes under the RTI Act.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before its creation, UGC, CBSE, and central universities like DU and JNU conducted their own entrance exams.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Origins: When Was NTA First Envisioned<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The idea for a national exam-conducting body dates back to the 1992 Programme of Action under NEP 1986.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2010, a committee of IIT directors recommended establishing such an agency through legislation, inspired by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), USA.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government formally announced NTA in 2017, and the Cabinet approved its creation soon after.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Exams Conducted by NTA<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NTA conducts India\u2019s major entrance examinations, including:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Top Undergraduate Entrance Exams<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">JEE Main \u2013 Engineering admissions<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NEET-UG \u2013 Medical admissions<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CUET-UG \u2013 Admissions to undergraduate programmes in central universities<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over 50 lakh candidates appear for these three exams annually.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Other Major Exams<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CUET-PG \u2013 Postgraduate admissions<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UGC-NET \u2013 Eligibility for assistant professor, JRF, and PhD<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CSIR UGC-NET \u2013 PhD admission in science disciplines<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CMAT, Hotel Management JEE, GPAT<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Entrance exams for DU, JNU, IIFT, ICAR, and others<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b style=\"font-size: inherit;\">House Panel Flags Serious Concerns Over NTA\u2019s Functioning<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education has sharply criticised the National Testing Agency (NTA), stating that it has \u201cnot inspired much confidence\u201d and must urgently improve its performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The panel noted chronic delays, errors, and administrative lapses in major national examinations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Repeated Delays and Exam Irregularities<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The committee observed that NTA delayed CUET results for multiple years, disrupting university admissions and academic calendars.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Out of 14 exams conducted in 2024, at least five faced major issues:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UGC-NET, CSIR-NET, NEET-PG were postponed<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NEET-UG faced paper leaks<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CUET results were delayed<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">JEE Main 2025 had 12 incorrect questions withdrawn after answer key errors<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The panel warned that such incidents erode students\u2019 trust in the testing system.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>NTA\u2019s Financial Surplus Should Be Used for Capacity Building<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NTA collected \u20b93,512.98 crore in six years and spent \u20b93,064.77 crore, leaving a surplus of \u20b9448 crore.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The committee recommended that this money be used to:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Build in-house capability to conduct exams independently<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthen regulatory oversight of outsourced vendors<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Preference for Pen-and-Paper Exams<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Citing CBSE and UPSC\u2019s decades-long track record, the panel expressed support for pen-and-paper exams, noting they have been \u201cleak-proof for several years\u201d \u2014 implying computer-based testing may be more vulnerable.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Recommendation to Recognise Sonam Wangchuk\u2019s Institute<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The committee encouraged the UGC to evaluate <\/span><b>Sonam Wangchuk\u2019s Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, noting its innovative model and potential for replication across India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Observation Regarding UGC<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Draft UGC Regulations 2025\u00a0<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Opposition fears they increase the Chancellor\/Visitor\u2019s control over Vice-Chancellor appointments.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Committee recommended detailed discussions with CABE (Central Advisory Board of Education)\u00a0before finalising rules.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>UGC Leadership Vacuum<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The UGC Chairperson post has remained vacant since April 2025<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Committee urges urgent appointment<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>UGC Equity Regulations 2025<\/b>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Panel noted delays and recommended:<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inclusion of <\/span><b>OBC harassment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> under caste-based discrimination<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Addition of <\/span><b>disability<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as a discrimination axis<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clear categorisation of discriminatory acts to avoid subjective interpretation<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b style=\"font-size: inherit;\">Source:<\/b> <strong><a style=\"font-size: inherit;\" href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/review-autonomous-institutions-house-delays-paper-leaks-errors-nta-confidence-house-panel-10409784\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a style=\"font-size: inherit;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/education\/why-has-the-national-testing-agency-failed-to-deliver-explained\/article68349401.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a> | <a style=\"font-size: inherit;\" href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/explained-how-the-national-testing-agency-nta-functions\/articleshowprint\/111312592.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ToI<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A parliamentary panel criticises NTA over exam delays, errors, and paper leaks; recommends using surplus funds to strengthen systems and restore trust in national examinations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":77084,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[60,4101,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-77074","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-mains-articles","9":"tag-nta","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}