Radhakrishnan panel recommends restructuring of NTA, asks for better coordination with States – The Hindu

A high-level committee of experts, headed by former chairperson of the Indian Space Research Organisation K. Radhakrishnan, has recommended restructuring of the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, while talking to reporters about the report that was submitted to the Union Education Ministry recently, said the NTA will be restructured in 2025 as per the recommendations of the panel.

The seven-member panel was appointed in June this year following complaints of question paper leak in the Common University Entrance Test-Undergraduate (CUET-UG).

NTA to focus only on entrance exams for higher education, says Dharmendra Pradhan

The panel has recommended Digi-Exam, on the lines of Digi-Yatra, to make the examination process foolproof. The report said such a system will ensure that the candidate writing the exam is the one who joined the programme. “Essentially, authentication at the stages of application, test, admission/induction and study/ work…” the report said.

The panel recommended that an empowered and accountable governing body with three designated sub-committees should be set up to oversee test audit, ethics and transparency, nomination and staff conditions and stakeholder relationships. “NTA needs to be manned with internal domain-specific human resources and a leadership team with domain expertise, proven experience and skill sets who should take charge of the testing process in the future,” the report said adding that the NTA should primarily conduct entrance examinations. “Enhancing its scope for other examinations may be considered after the capacity of NTA is augmented,” the report said.

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The Director General should be an officer not below the rank of Additional Secretary to the Union government under the Central Staffing Scheme, the report said and recommended 10 specific verticals for NTA, headed at Director level.

To address the complaints from the States, the panel said the NTA should develop institutional linkage with State/District authorities for providing a secure test administration apparatus. “The Committee recommends that Coordination Committees at State and District levels may be set up with specified roles and responsibilities,” the report said.

The panel recommended three policy interventions such as multi-session testing, multi-stage testing for NEET-UG and multitude subject streams in vogue for CUET admission tests in the report.

“The parameters and methodology of normalisation process that is integral to multi-session testing, should be well-defined, established, documented, and communicated transparently for each test,” it said. The panel has also recommended a coherent series of measures to prevent breaches and malpractices while conducting the tests.

It has also provided detailed precautions while setting question papers, printing press, transportation, selection of testing centres, seat allotment, frisking, steps to prevent impersonation, handling of unused OMR sheets and question papers, back transportation of OMR sheets and declaration of results.

Mr. Pradhan said the NTA will be restructured in 2025 and new posts will be created. “The NTA will be limited to conducting only entrance exams for higher education and not conduct any recruitment exams from next year,” Mr. Pradhan said and added that CUET-UG will continue to be held once a year.

Published – December 17, 2024 11:45 pm IST

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