A Parliamentary Standing Committee has recommended comprehensive reforms in the National Testing Agency (NTA). It includes key suggestions like converting the country’s biggest medical entrance exam ‘NEET-UG’ into a computer based test (CBT) in a phased manner, setting up a thousand secure government exam centers and fixing age and effort limits for candidates.

The recommendations are part of the 382nd report “Reform and Strengthening of National Testing Agency (NTA)” of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports. Committee Chairman Mukul Wasnik handed over this report to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

The committee said that after the recent controversies in the National Testing Agency, which conducts several important national examinations like JEE-Main, NEET-UG, UGC-NET and CUET, it is very important to undertake structural, technical and administrative reforms to restore public confidence.

Suggestion to shift to CBT mode

One of the most important recommendations of the report is to shift NEET-UG from pen-and-paper (OMR) mode to CBT mode. The committee emphasized that this transformation should be accompanied by major investments in digital infrastructure, especially in tier-2, tier-3 cities and rural areas.

Endorsing the recommendation of the high-level expert committee headed by Radhakrishnan, the committee appointed Dr. which called for setting up over a thousand secure government CBT centres. In addition, it is recommended to have at least one exam center in each district and provide students with an opportunity to take mock tests before the full transition.

Concerns about the integrity of the exam

The report further states that despite measures like biometric verification, mobile jammers and AI-based CCTV surveillance, the examination system needs deep reforms.

To prevent paper leaks, the committee has suggested creating a large and continuously updated ‘question bank’ and creating question papers through digital tools closer to the exam date. Also, it was proposed to create a ‘National Register of Blacklisted Exam Vendors’ to prevent blacklisted agencies from getting work elsewhere.

Age, range of attempts and two-tier examination

The Committee expressed concern over the absence of any restriction on age limit or number of attempts in NEET-UG. The report mentions that candidates above 70 years of age have also appeared in this exam. The Committee has suggested the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health to consider determining appropriate age and effort limits for this.

Considering the number of candidates of over 22 lakh, the committee also suggested exploring the possibility of holding NEET in two phases. Besides, the NTA was also asked to focus on the need for permanent experts. Highlighting staff shortages, the report said that out of 39 sanctioned posts of NTA, only 23 posts are filled (41% vacancy rate).

Dependence on officers on deputation should be reduced

The committee has suggested NTA to create its own permanent cadre in psychometrics, examination security, digital infrastructure and data analytics instead of relying only on deputed officers.

Criticizing the rapidly evolving coaching culture, the committee said the exam pattern often promotes coaching techniques rather than real understanding. It was recommended that the examinations should be aligned with the school curriculum (NCERT) and regulate the fees, safety standards and mental health of students of coaching institutes.

While charting the future direction, the committee stressed on adoption of AI-based Computer Adaptive Test (CAT), strengthening cyber security team and increasing transparency by releasing examination results and irregularity reports on the lines of UPSC.