Here, we will discuss the national testing agency ( NTA ) and the examinations held by it. What exactly is the national testing agency and what do they do? The national testing agency is a new body which has its objective in the name itself, which is to hold and organise competitive examinations on a national level. What is the importance of NTA? Firstly, NTA holds all the examination online. Yes, that means that no more OMR sheets are used, now you can get your work done by sitting in front of a device that can connect to the internet. The examinations won’t be held offline either. Another special quality about these examinations is that NTA manages all the important competitive examinations held in the country, India. Some of these examinations are NEET (medical), GPAT ( pharmacy), CMAT ( Management), JEE ( Engineering) and UGC – NET ( PhD entrance )
NTA has been presented with the responsibility of handling all of these examinations, conducting it twice a year and managing the responsibility well. Thus, The NTA has to conduct various examinations online and twice a year. You will also see that before the examinations were held by CBSE – UGC net but now it has changed to NTA – UGC. The national testing agency (NTA) is a kind of a statutory body, which has been approved by the union cabinet for conducting entrance examinations of JEE, NEET, CTET, UGC NET, etc. Before the responsibility of various examinations was given to NTA, it used to be a hassle for students for some examinations were in written mode and different from the rest. Now, medical and engineering results get a sigh of relief because all of the examinations are held by NTA, in an online mode. Apart from this, educational bodies such as AICTE and CBSE will be freed from the responsibilities of conducting these entrance examinations. Another thing you need to know is that all of these examinations are leak – proof.
The NTA will function as an autonomous body. It will have a board of governors who will discharge their duties honestly and diligently. It is registered under the Indian societies registration act, 1860. It will also be conducting various entrance examinations twice a year. The NEET or national eligibility cum entrance test, the entry to 33000 – odd seats in government medical and dental colleges across the nation, will be held twice a year, which is in the month of February and the usual date in may. The Joint entrance examinations (Mains) , which is for entry to engineering colleges, will be held in January and April every year. The examinations drew 12 lakh candidates in the year of 2017. The national testing agency will also conduct national eligibility test ( NET ), common management admission test ( CMAT ) and graduate pharmacy aptitude test ( GPAT ) exams.
The government has appointed former chairman of central board of Secondary Education (CBSE) as the first director general ( DG) of the national testing agency. The candidates will receive two changes to appear in JEE and NEET exams. The best of the two scores will be taken as the final result for the candidates. According to Prakash Javadekar, the examinations ensure no leakage and are secure and at par with the international norms. “The examinations for all candidates will be conducted in computer – based mode only.”
These examinations will use highly secured IR software and encryption to ensure delivering of tests just in time. This is to ensure no leakages and other malpractices to take place. Thus it is safe to say that NTA provides transparency and reliability to the students who are opting to give examinations. Some universities wish to seek specific qualities from their students as they are wondering which ones to accept into their university. For example, at an AIMS paper, some questions are of PCB and some are of English. NTA focuses on understanding this requirement of universities and designs the test in such a way that it helps them. NTA also aims at researching and providing active development in the education system at places it is needed and where there is room for growth.
