Critical of NTA, panel says return to pen-paper tests

NEW DELHI: The parliamentary lasting committee connected acquisition has said National Testing Agency's (NTA) handling of entranceway examinations successful 2024 "has not inspired overmuch confidence" and recommended a displacement towards pen-and-paper based tests on with a nationwide blacklist of firms progressive successful exam irregularities.On pen-and-paper based tests, the sheet said determination are respective models that person been leak-proof for years, specified arsenic CBSE committee exams & UPSC. The committee, headed by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, noted successful its study that "in 2024 alone, of the 14 competitory examinations conducted by NTA, astatine slightest 5 faced large issues". It recorded that "three examinations - UGC-NET, CSIR-NET and NEET-PG - had to beryllium postponed, 1 introspection viz.

NEET-UG saw instances of insubstantial leaks, and 1 introspection CUET (UG/PG) saw its results postponed".The committee besides flagged that successful JEE (Main) 2025 held successful Jan, astatine slightest 12 questions had to beryllium withdrawn owed to errors successful the last reply key. It observed that "such instances bash not animate assurance of the examinees successful the system". "The committee, therefore, recommends that NTA needs to rapidly get their enactment unneurotic truthful that specified instances, which different are afloat avoidable, bash not hap successful future," the study said.

On exam security, the sheet weighed risks successful some online and offline modes. It noted that pen-and-paper exams "offer much opportunities for insubstantial leaks", portion computer-based tests (CBT) "can beryllium hacked successful a mode that is hard to detect". Between the two, it supported a stronger displacement to accepted formats, stating that NTA should intimately survey and replicate the CBSE and UPSC models. For CBT, the sheet recommended that specified exams beryllium hosted lone successful government-controlled centres and "never successful backstage centres".The study besides flagged concerns implicit the continuing engagement of tainted vendors. It said respective firms progressive successful insubstantial setting, medication and correction person been blacklisted by organisations and authorities governments, yet proceed to unafraid contracts elsewhere. "Such blacklisted firms indispensable not beryllium engaged for immoderate entranceway trial by the NTA oregon authorities govts," it said, recommending a nationwide database of blacklisted firms and associated individuals to forestall aboriginal contracts.Highlighting NTA's finances, the sheet noted that the bureau "collected an estimated Rs 3,512.9 crore portion it has spent Rs 3,064.7 crore connected the behaviour of exams, thereby creating a surplus of Rs 448 crores successful the past six years". It recommended that this corpus beryllium utilized to physique NTA's interior capableness oregon to fortify regulatory and monitoring systems for vendors.The sheet besides flagged increasing dependence connected backstage coaching, urging tighter alignment of entranceway examinations with schoolhouse curricula and recommending a task unit to research regulatory oversight of coaching sector.