National Testing Agency (NTA) To Conduct JEE Main, NEET; 10 Points
Union Cabinet approved the setting up of National Testing Agency (NTA). The agency would be responsible for conducting entrance examinations in the country thus relieving educational bodies like CBSE, AICTE etc. of their exam conducting duties. The agency would begin its operation with taking over examinations which are currently being conducted by CBSE and eventually cover other entrance examinations. The
setting up of NTA would allow students to have access to one standardized test and will also curb allegation of uneven difficulty level in various sittings in an exam.
Here are
10 things to know about National Testing Agency.
1. The Finance Minister in the budget speech of 2017-18 had announced that a national body will be set up which will be responsible for conducting entrance examinations for higher education.
2. Government has allocated a fund of Rs. 25 crore for NTA to begin operation in the first year. From its second year, the agency will become self-sustainable.
3. Some of the exams which would be conducted by NTA will be JEE Main, NEET UG, UGC NET, CTET, etc.
4. The exams will be conducted online and will likely be conducted twice a year. So far entrance exams like JEE Main or NEET UG are conducted only once a year. UGC NET used to be conducted twice a year but from this year, CBSE announced that NET will also be conducted once a year. The prospect of the entrance exams twice a year will bring relief to students who often have to face undue pressure specially for exams like JEE and NEET which are conducted immediately after the board exams are over.
5. The agency would function as an autonomous body and will be chaired by an educationist who will be appointed by the MHRD.
6. The agency will have a board of governors who will represent the member institutions.
7. NTA will be created as a society registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860.
8. The agency would cater to about 40 lakh students who appear in various entrance exams. 1186454 students had registered for
JEE Main exam this year. 11,38,890 had appeared for the
NEET UG exam this year. Approximately 9.30 lakh candidates had registered for UGC NET which was concluded recently.
9. NTA will ensure that exams have a standardized difficulty level.
10. It is also expected that setting up NTA will help avoid conflicts about varying levels of difficulty in different sets of question paper.
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