The government has formed a high-level committee of experts for a review of the functioning of the National Testing Agency. The committee will be making recommendations on reform in mechanism of examination process, improvement in data security protocols and structure and functioning of the NTA.
The agency has been facing heat, following multiple controversies in the administration of key national level exams, like the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) and the University Grants Commission–National Eligibility Test.
The panel has been appointed by the Ministry of Education, and will be headed by former ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan, along with the ministry's top official Govind Jaiswal as committee secretary.
The committee will include former AIIMS Delhi Director Randeep Guleria, B J Rao, vice chancellor of Central University of Hyderabad, Ramamurthy K, professor emeritus in the department of civil engineering at IIT Madras, Pankaj Bansal, co-founder of HR tech platform People Strong and Aditya Mittal, dean-student affairs at IIT Delhi.
It will submit its report to the government within two months with its set of recommendations.
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had announced the formation of a committee to probe irregularities in the NTA and vowed action, amid mounting criticism for the discrepancies in NEET-UG results and the UGC-NET exam cancellation.
"The government is going to form a high-level committee. Recommendations will be expected from that high-level committee to further improve NTA, its structure, functioning, examination process, transparency and data security protocol," Pradhan said in a media briefing on Thursday.
Also Read: CSIR-UGC NET Exam Postponed Due To 'Unavoidable Circumstances', New Dates To Be Out Later: NTA
Tasks Assigned
The panel will analyse the end-to-end examination process and suggest measures to improve efficiency of the system and to forestall any possible breach. It will also conduct a thorough review of the protocols of the NTA, and suggest measures to strengthen these procedures, along with monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance at every level.
It will also provide recommendations on the organisational structure and functioning of the NTA for implementation of reforms and clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of functionaries at every level. The current grievance redressal mechanism of the NTA will also be assessed to identify areas of improvement and make recommendations for enhancing its efficiency.
The body will examine existing security protocols related to the paper-setting and other processes for different examinations and make recommendations to enhance robustness of system.
After the NEET UG 2024 results were declared on June 4, widespread allegations of irregularities and demands for a re-examination echoed across the country. Over 24 lakh candidates across 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 overseas venues, took the examination.
On Wednesday, the UGC NET exam was scrapped by the centre, following inputs received from the National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit, over concerns that the integrity of the examination may have been compromised. A retest was declared, the date of which is yet to be announced.
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