On Friday, the proposal for the creation of a National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct all entrance tests, was cleared by the Union cabinet. The NTA would initially conduct those entrance examinations which are currently being conducted by the CBSE.

On Friday, the proposal for the creation of a National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct all entrance tests, was cleared by the Union cabinet. Currently, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is in charge of conducting these exams. The entrance examinations will be conducted under the NTA, online, at least twice a year to give adequate opportunity to the candidates to bring out their best.

An official statement read, “The NTA would initially conduct those entrance examinations that are currently being conducted by the CBSE. Other examinations will be taken up gradually by the NTA,” said an official statement.

Features

The NTA would initially conduct those entrance examinations which are currently being conducted by the CBSE
Other examinations will be taken up gradually after NTA is fully geared up
The entrance examinations will be conducted in online mode at least twice a year, thereby giving adequate opportunity to candidates to bring out their best.
In order to serve the requirements of the rural students, it would locate the centres at sub-district/district level and as far as possible would undertake hands-on training to the students.

How NTA will benefit students

As per HT report, establishment of NTA will benefit about four million students appearing in various entrance examinations. It will, over time, relieve the CBSE, AICTE, IITs, IIMs and other agencies from the responsibility of conducting these entrance tests, thus enabling them to focus more on their core mandate. The agency will also bring in high reliability, standardised difficulty level to assess the aptitude, intelligence and problem-solving abilities of the students.

The NTA will comprise a chairman (an eminent educationist appointed by the ministry of human resource development); a CEO who will be the director general and appointed by the Centre; and a board of governors comprising members from user institutions. The director general will be assisted by nine verticals headed by academicians and experts.

The NTA will receive a one-time grant of Rs 25 crore from the Centre to start its operation. Thereafter, it will function on a self-sustaining model.