Examine individual changes

'{{Use Pakistani English|date=January 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}} {{Infobox company | name = National Testing Service | logo = National Testing Service (NTS) Pakistan logo.png | image = National Testing Service (NTS) Pakistan headquarters building.jpg | native_name = نیشنل ٹیسٹنگ سروس | native_name_lang = ur | type = [[Public company|Public]] | foundation = {{Start date and age|2006}} | hq_location = Plot 96, Street 4, H-8/1, [[Islamabad]] | locations = <!--# of locations--> | key_people = {{Unbulleted list|Tahir Aqeel <small>([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])</small>|Muhammad Siddique <small>(Company secretary)}} | products = {{unbulleted list|[[Graduate Assessment Test]] - General|Graduate Assessment Test - Subject|Law Graduate Assessment Test|National Aptitude Test|National Teachers Database Program|Medical Representatives Certification Program}} | services = [[Standardized test|Standardized testing]] | revenue = {{Unbulleted list|{{Decrease}} [[Pakistani rupee|Rs.]]515,673,673 (2021)|Rs.849,301,065 (2020)}} | operating_income = {{Unbulleted list|{{Decrease}} Rs.570,159,112 (2021)|Rs.879,389,963 (2020)}} | net_income = {{Unbulleted list|{{Decrease}} Rs.21,241,599 (2021)|Rs.57,843,010 (2020)}} | assets = {{Unbulleted list|{{Increase}} Rs.1,731,571,444 (2021)|Rs.1,698,505,096 (2020)}} | num_employees = | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | homepage = {{url|nts.org.pk}} | footnotes = }} '''National Testing Service - Pakistan''' ('''[https://pkhive.com/nts NTS]''') is a [[Nonprofit organization|nonprofit]] organization in [[Pakistan]] that administers academic performance evaluation tests. It is similar to [[Educational Testing Service]] (ETS) in the [[United States]]. NTS is a member of the International Association for Educational Assessment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=International Networking and Collaboration {{!}} NTS |url=https://nts.org.pk/international-networking-and-collaboration.html |access-date=2022-07-17 |website=nts.org.pk}}</ref> It is also recognized by the [[Higher Education Commission (Pakistan)|Higher Education Commission]]. NTS offers two main types of tests, the National Aptitude Test (NAT) and the [[Graduate Assessment Test]] (GAT). NAT is aimed at students seeking admission to colleges and universities, whereas GAT is aimed at graduates seeking admission to [[postgraduate education]]. NTS exams are also used to determine qualifications of students seeking advanced study abroad.<ref>Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Education. (2 May 2006). [http://www.moe.gov.pk/mediacell.htm Cuba to sponsor 1000 Pakistani students for medical studies] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105215406/http://www.moe.gov.pk/mediacell.htm |date=5 January 2007 }}. Ministry of Education, Pakistan; official website. Accessed 10 January 2008.</ref> NTS was formed to ensure quality educational standards in Pakistan and to "provide a national scale for comparative grading between institutes",<ref>Atta-ur-Rahman, Federal Minister for Science and Technology. (8 September 2001) [http://www.sindh.gov.pk/interviews_discussion/it_great_opportunity.htm IT – a great opportunity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203031230/http://www.sindh.gov.pk/interviews_discussion/it_great_opportunity.htm |date=3 December 2007 }}. Government of Sindh, official website. Accessed 10 January 2008.</ref> consolidating examination boards under one administrating body.<ref>[http://pakobserver.net/200708/09/news/islamabad06.asp Revolutionary steps get nod for educational regime]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Pakistan Observer. (9 August 2007) Accessed 10 January 2008.</ref> According to Shahid Siddiqui, director of The Centre for Humanities and Social Sciences at the [[Lahore School of Economics]], tests implemented prior to the development of the NTS were criticized as not accommodating socio-cultural differences, resulting in a need for "an indigenous testing service that should design and develop testing materials within an indigenous context".<ref>Siddiqui, Shahid. (1 October 2007). [http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:WYipjImvWnUJ:www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp%3Fid%3D74210+%22National+Testing+Service%22+Pakistan&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=37&gl=us&client=firefox-a Assessing assessment]. The International News. Accessed 10 January 2008.</ref> Prominent Pakistani institutions like [[COMSATS University Islamabad|COMSATS University]] (CU), [[Bahauddin Zakariya University]] (BZU), [[Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering & Management Sciences|Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences]] (BUITEMS), [[Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology|Center for Advanced Studies in Engineering]] (CASE) and the [[Islamia University of Bahawalpur]] (IUB) have made it compulsory for students seeking admission to have cleared tests conducted by NTS.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.case.edu.pk/Admissions/index.htm |title=CASE Admissions |access-date=11 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213095209/http://www.case.edu.pk/Admissions/index.htm |archive-date=13 December 2007 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://bzu.edu.pk/news/newsdesc.asp?id=559|title=BZU Admissions|access-date=11 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010013511/http://bzu.edu.pk/news/newsdesc.asp?id=559|archive-date=10 October 2007|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> ==History== Controversy erupted in 2007 following the mandating of NTS testing,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nts.org.in/|title=Testing 1, 2, 3 - Daily Times|date=16 February 2019}}</ref> first announced by [[Muhammad Danish]], Governor of [[Punjab (Pakistan)|Punjab]], with regards to admission to universities and later set aside by the government unless the laws regarding university admission were amended.<ref>[http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6210&Itemid=2 Entry test of public universities through NTS: Governor] Associated Press of Pakistan. Accessed 10 January 2008.</ref><ref name="khattak">Khattak, Khalid. (16 Feb 2019) https://www.nts.org.in/]. Daily Times. Accessed 10 January 2008.</ref> Criticism included allegations that the services were inconvenient to access and prohibitively expensive to economically challenged students.<ref name="khattak"/><ref>[http://www.interface.edu.pk/students/Aug/PUASA-slams-entry-tests.asp Punjab University Academic Staff Association(PUASA) slams entry tests] Interface, Pakistan. Accessed 10 January 2008.</ref> Maqbool called for input from the vice-chancellors of Punjab's public universities on 4 June.<ref>[http://www.interface.edu.pk/students/June/Punjab-Universities-entrance-test.asp NTS still in dark about entrance test in Punjab]. Interface, Pakistan. Accessed 10 January 2008.</ref> That year, each university department was permitted to set its own entrance requirements, with six of 64 departments at [[University of the Punjab|Punjab University]] electing to utilize tests from NTS.<ref>[http://www.interface.edu.pk/students/Aug/PU-entry-tests.asp 36 PU departments hold entry tests]. Interface, Pakistan. Accessed 10 January 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.interface.edu.pk/students/Sep-07/Admission-controversies.asp Admission controversies]. Interface, Pakistan. Accessed 10 January 2008.</ref> In October 2007, the [[vice-chancellor]] of Punjab University, Muhammad Arif Butt, endorsed the use of NTS testing in all departments of the university.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nts.org.in/|title='PU all for entrance test through NTS'|date=16 February 2019}}</ref><ref>[http://www.interface.edu.pk/students/Oct-07/PU-entrance-test.asp 'PU all for entrance test through NTS'] Interface, Pakistan. Accessed 10 January 2008.</ref> NTS director Haroon Rasheed said that no tuition centres are associated with the service and NTS exams will not be out of course.<ref>[http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C07%5C15%5Cstory_15-7-2007_pg7_40 NTS exam will not be out of course]. Daily Times, Accessed 11 January 2008.</ref> ==Legal education== In 2016 the [[Pakistan Bar Council]] amended the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Rules 1976 pertaining to admission of new advocates to the provincial [[Bar Councils in Pakistan|Bar Councils]]. The new rules required applicants to sit and pass the Law Graduate Assessment Test (Law GAT) conducted by National Testing Service.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pakistanbarcouncil.org/nts1/|title=NTS Law GAT|website=pakistanbarcouncil.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-08-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mohal |first=Shah Nawaz |date=13 May 2017 |title=Law-GAT test: NTS sits on law graduates’ money |url=https://archive.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/05/13/law-gat-test-nts-sits-on-law-graduates-money/ |access-date=2022-07-17 |website=[[Pakistan Today]] |language=en-GB}}</ref> ==Criticism== NTS has sought to establish a national educational standard for [[Pakistan]], but at the same time, as an organization, cannot and has not catered to the regionally diverse Pakistani nation. NTS resources are geographically restricted and both quantitatively and qualitatively limited. As stated by interface - an educational consultancy. Its contention as an independent NGO can also be challenged as it is affiliated with numerous regular testing centers of [[COMSATS University Islamabad|COMSATS]] (as semi-government body or inter-governmental organization) and public/governmental education institutions for their entrance / admission exams. A recent controversy of regular operational error has also arisen for PhD. assessment tests. The credibility/irresponsibility on the part of NTS officials has disqualified the candidates from applying in MPhil/PhD programs at public and private sector institutes because under HEC rules, they do not have any proof of clearing the test.<ref>[https://biselahore.net BISE Lahore]</ref> The overall process lacks credibility and transparency due to the un-disclosed nature of alternative processes for any participants, when they do not fall in the norms of the operating procedure (i.e. errors/loopholes) due to complexities that arise from multifarious of socioeconomic nature of challenges in present-day environment of Pakistan.<ref>[https://5thclassresult.info 5 class result]Daily Times last accessed 17 March 2010. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229034645/https://5thclassresult.info/ |date=29 December 2019 }}</ref><ref>[https://resultsunited.com/10th-class-result/ Matric Result]. Daily Times last accessed 17 March 2010. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619193859/https://resultsunited.com/10th-class-result/ |date=19 June 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ilyas |first=Faiza |date=2008-11-18 |title=KARACH: ‘Flawed’ entry test stirs controversy: KU’s MS, PhD programmes |url=http://beta.dawn.com/news/330460/karach-flawed-entry-test-stirs-controversy-ku-s-ms-phd-programmes |access-date=2022-07-17 |website=DAWN.COM |language=en}}</ref> Unfortunately, the NTS management have even been caught and identified as plagiarizing test questions and are indirectly controlled by [[Higher Education Commission of Pakistan]] (HEC).<ref>[https://10classresult.com 10 Class Result] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123133611/http://hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/AECA/SocialSciencesArtsHumanities/Documents/Minutes%20of%20the%204th%20meeting.pdf|date=23 November 2010}}. [[Higher Education Commission of Pakistan]] Internet website last accessed 19 March 2010.</ref> ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * {{official site|http://nts.org.pk/}} {{Education in Pakistan}} [[Category:2006 establishments in Pakistan]] [[Category:Educational testing and assessment organizations]] [[Category:Standardised tests in Pakistan]] [[Category:Educational organisations based in Pakistan]]'