The National Testing Agency is undertaking a major overhaul of its examination system, including ending adhocism within three months, strengthening its digital and security infrastructure, and bringing in domain specialists from the private sector, officials said. The agency is currently recruiting for more than 20 permanent posts, while 10 professional leadership positions, including Chief Technology Officer, Chief Finance Officer, Chief Information Security Officer and General Managers for Test Security, R&D and Psychometrics, have been advertised and are being filled, officials said.
"NTA will end adhocism within three months. Recruitment is underway for over 20 permanent posts, for which advertisements are been issued," NTA officials said. The agency is also bringing in specialists from the private sector in areas such as cybersecurity, psychometrics and question-paper design. Officials said around 600 experts have been removed from the examination team and new experts are being recruited through a formal process. "We will create a very large question bank so that too much information is not concentrated with one person. Around 600 experts have been removed, and better experts are being hired through a proper recruitment process," officials said. NTA offices will be moved to government premises, with security to be reinforced by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) instead of private security agencies. The changes come as the NTA faces criticism over repeated examination-related lapses and cancellations.
The Education Ministry has directed the agency to conduct a thorough audit of all examination processes and submit a report detailing the corrective action taken. The revamped infrastructure will include biometric access, CCTV surveillance, enhanced digital systems and strengthened cybersecurity, with cyber experts also being inducted, officials said. Education Minister Prahlad Joshi have held two meetings with NTA officials. NTA Director General Abhishek Singh apprised the ministry of the steps taken to reform the examination system. According to the ministry, more than 50 staff have been removed from the agency, while a revamped examination team has been put in place, with around 600 experts removed and new experts being onboarded. The ministry said a four-tier question-paper checking system will also be introduced to strengthen scrutiny of examination papers."20-25 officials are to be inducted in the next two to three weeks.
Further induction plan was also reviewed," the ministry said on Tuesday. The minister on Monday also directed the NTA to ensure strict compliance with established examination protocols and overhaul its Confidential Operations (CONOPS) architecture. The measures include secluded rooms, air-gapped systems and device-deposit protocols. The overhaul comes days after NTA announced that it would re-conduct the UGC-NET examinations in Sociology, Commerce and English following complaints of errors in the question papers. The latest controversy is the second major examination-related lapse involving the agency this year, after the NEET-UG examination faced a paper leak controversy that led to the cancellation of the exam and subsequent re-examination.
Also read: NTA removes 50 staff members, to take professionals on key posts
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