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National Testing Agency

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The National Testing Agency (NTA) is an autonomous body of Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education of India. It was established in November 2017 to conduct entrance examination admissions and recruitment. The NTA is responsible for conducting numerous national-level exams for admission and fellowship in higher educational institutions related to engineering, medicine, management and pharmacy.[1][2]

Official Logo of NTA
Autonomous & statutory body overview
FormedNovember 2017 (7 years ago) (2017-11)
TypeConduct entrance examinations, admissions like MBBS, IIT etc and recruitment
JurisdictionIndia India
Statusactive since November 2017–present
HeadquartersFirst Floor, NSIC-MDBP Building, Okhla Industrial Estate, New Delhi, India
Autonomous & statutory body executives
  • Pradeep Kumar Joshi, Chairman
  • Pradeep Singh Kharola, IAS (additional charge)[3], Director General
Websitenta.ac.in

History

The roots of the agency can be traced to the Programme of Action 1992, related to the National Policy of Education 1986, which mentioned conducting national-level common entrance tests to professional and non-professional programmes of study.[4] Its actual start was in 2010 with a report submitted to the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) (now the Ministry of Education) 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 the testing of the magnitude that was being envisaged.[5]

In 2013, the MHRD constituted a seven-member task force to "prepare blueprint for creating a special purpose vehicle to take the concept of the National Testing Agency (NTA) forward".[6] This was following a decision made in April 2013 to set up the agency.[6]

In 2017, an announcement about the 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.[7]

On 7 July 2018, the former 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 the National Eligibility Test (NET), the Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) and the Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT).[8]

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.[9]

Budget

The Union Cabinet has granted an initial amount of ₹25 crore (equivalent to ₹35 crore or US$4.2 million in 2023) to the NTA[10] to start its operations in the first year.[11] The agency is financed by the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education.[12]

Exams

Following are the exams conducted by the NTA every year.[13]

For universities and colleges

For recruitment

For Schools

  • Scheme for Residential Education for Students in High Classes in Targeted Areas (SRESHTA)
  • Navyug School Sarojini Nagar Entrance Test (NSSNET)
  • All India Sainik Schools Entrance Exam (AISSEE)

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.[14][15] Seven people have been arrested, including Bhargav Deka, the owner of a city-based coaching institute, Global Edu Light and Tata Consultancy Services employees [16] The candidate (Neel Nakshatra Das), Neel's father, Jyotirmoy Das, and an invigilator.[17][18][19]

NEET (UG) 2020 discrepancies

In the NEET (UG) 2020 exam, the 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.[20][21] Vidhi's response sheet proved that she had actually scored 590 marks.[22]

In the NEET (UG) 2020 exam, the NTA had allegedly declared Mridul Rawat as failed.[23][24] 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.[25] The NTA refuted the claims of Mridul Rawat.[26] Director-General Vineet Joshi of the NTA said, “An aspirant has claimed that he has 650 marks whereas he has obtained 329 marks in the NEET 2020 results. The emails purported to have been written by the NTA are also fake. This news has been broadcast by some local news channels in some cities. It 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 the NTA with the cybersecurity cell under the IT Act at Noida, UP.”[27]

JEE (Main) 2022 technical glitches

The National Testing Agency was widely criticised for the improper conduction of the JEE (Main) 2022 examination. Many students faced technical issues during the examination, which resulted in lower scores.[28] Glitches in answer key and response sheet of the exam were also a serious problem for the students. The agency has not considered the conduction of the examination.[29]

Apparent Misconduct and Irregularity in JEE (Main) 2024

The NTA has been criticised for irregularities in the difficulty level of question papers of JEE(Main), which leads to the normalisation of marks and ultimately, lower scores of candidates.[30]

JEE Mains 2024 Session 1 (January)

The discrepancy of appearing students in the initial four shifts of January 27(Shift 1 and 2) and January 29(Shift 1 and 2) has been reported by many students. The 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 records of the number of students appearing in the respective shifts.[31] [32][33][34] [35] However, the NTA released the data in which no uneven distribution of candidates was found.[36]

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 the other nine cases were reported in various parts of the country. The offenders were detected through artificial intelligence enabled monitoring and biometric verification.[37][38] 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.[39]

2024 NEET-UG controversy

Main article: 2024 NEET controversy

In NEET (UG) 2024 exam, for which a little more than 24 lakh registered, the paper was leaked on 5 May 2024 in Patna, Bihar. According to the police, the paper leak mafia allegedly took ₹30 lakhs to ₹50 lakhs from many candidates and accommodated them in the lodges of Patna where they were provided question papers, claiming to be that of NEET-UG, for memorizing.[40]

On 4 June 2024, the NEET-UG result was declared on the same day as the result of the 2024 Indian general election, 10 days before the expected result date, declared by the NTA. Publicly published results of various all-India top scorers who scored 718 and 719 marks went viral on the Internet. Many students and teachers pointed out that due to the structure of the marking scheme, it was impossible to obtain those marks in the NEET-UG examinations.

The number of candidates scoring full marks also went up from 2 in 2023 to 67 in 2024 From a merit list uploaded into the public database by the NTA, it was also revealed that of those 67, scoring 720 out of 720 marks, six took the exam from the same or nearby centres in the Jhajjar city of Haryana.[41]

When students raised their concerns, the NTA released a statement to explain the discrepancies: "(The) NTA received few representations and Court Cases from the candidates of (the) NEET (UG) 2024, raising concerns of loss of time during the conduct of the examination on 5 May 2024. Such cases/representations were considered by (the) NTA and the normalisation formula, which has been devised and adopted by the Hon'ble Apex Court, vide its judgment dated 13th June 2018, was implemented to address the loss of time faced by the candidates of (the) NEET (UG) 2024."[42]

The NTA noted that around 1,563 candidates were given grace marks, and the revised marks of such candidates vary from 20 to 720 marks. Students raised concerns over not being notified of the grace mark formulation in the examination brochures and the criteria for allotment of these grace marks.[43] However, after the intervention of the Supreme Court, the NTA decided to withdraw the grace marks and hold the examination again for those 1,563 candidates on 23 June 2024. Out of these, 813 students took the retest.[44]

As per the recommendations of the High Powered Committee, NTA decided to reconduct the NEET (UG) 2024 on 23 June 2024 for 1563 candidates who had experienced time loss during the originally scheduled examination on 5 May 2024 and were awarded compensatory marks.[45]

On July 23, 2024 the Supreme Court of India led by Justice DY Chandrachud and consisting of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra acknowledged that atleast a 155 students directly benefitted from the paper leak ruled that there were no indications of an overall systemic failure barring few circumstances and denied that there was any large-scale leak of the NEET(UG) 2024 paper hence ruled that there would be no re-examination as there were no credible reports of a large-scale phenomenon.[46][47]

See also

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. ^ "Centre replaces NTA chief amid NEET-NET row, Pradeep Singh Kharola is new DG". Hindustan Times. 2024-06-22. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  4. ^ "Programme on Action 1992" (PDF). Mhrd.gov.in. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2018-11-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ a b 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.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "Governing Body". Nta.ac.in. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  10. ^ "Centre approves creation of National Testing Agency". The Hindu. 10 November 2017. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "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.
  13. ^ "NTA Exam | India". exams.nta.ac.in. Archived from the original on 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ Tata Consultancy Services provides infrastructural and human resources support to the NTA for conducting the exams.
  17. ^ "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.
  18. ^ "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.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ "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.
  21. ^ "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.
  22. ^ 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. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  23. ^ "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.
  24. ^ "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.
  25. ^ "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.
  26. ^ "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.
  27. ^ "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.
  28. ^ "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.
  29. ^ "'Technical glitches denied the candidates a fair attempt at the JEE Main 2022', writes Karti P Chidambaram". 6 December 2022. Archived from the original on 2024-02-14. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  30. ^ "JEE Mains Result 2024: Students raise concerns over an 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.
  31. ^ "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.
  32. ^ "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.
  33. ^ "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.
  34. ^ "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.
  35. ^ "JEE Main 2024 Session 1 Result: Students Allege 'Error' in Percentile Calculation by NTA". 15 February 2024. Archived from the original on 2024-02-15. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
  36. ^ "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.
  37. ^ "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.
  38. ^ "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.
  39. ^ "Press Release" (PDF). National Testing Agency. 2024-04-24. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
  40. ^ Kumar, Avinash (11 May 2024). "NEET UG 2024 paper leak case: Economic Offences Unit of Bihar Police springs into action, new revelations come to fore". Hindustan Times.
  41. ^ "8 NEET UG Toppers From Same Centre In Jhajjar, Haryana Raises Doubts; Reports Suggest Were Given 'Two Exam Papers'". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
  42. ^ Kumar, Rahul (5 June 2024). "NEET UG 2024 Results: NTA Awards Grace Marks For Exam Time Loss, Clarifies 718, 719 Scores". NDTV.
  43. ^ Upadhyay, Deepak (7 June 2024). "NEET Exam Row: Students demand transparency after inflated marks charges, HC hearing | Top 11 updates". LiveMint.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  44. ^ "NEET-UG retest: 750 of 1,563 candidates awarded grace marks skip retest". The Economic Times. 2024-06-24. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  45. ^ "NTA" (PDF).
  46. ^ Roy, Debayan (2024-07-23). "NEET UG 2024: Supreme Court rejects plea for re-examination". Bar and Bench - Indian Legal news. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  47. ^ Bureau, The Hindu (2024-07-23). "NEET UG 2024 SC hearing LIVE Updates: SC refuses to cancel exam, says there is no material to show systemic breach". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-07-23. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
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