Pralhad Joshi Orders Major NTA Overhaul : After addressing some of the recent problems with the UGC NET, the Ministry of Education has decided to take some action toward the restructuring of the National Testing Agency (NTA). Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi will ensure strict compliance with exam procedures, rework confidential affairs, and conduct an audit of all examination processes.
To assess the efforts that are being made to enhance the general functioning and security of examinations conducted by NTA, Joshi organized a review meeting attended by the Secretary of the Department of Higher Education, NTA's Director General, and other key officials.
There will be changes in the hierarchical system of the agency, along with hiring experts from important disciplines.
As part of the current reforms, the Ministry of Education says that more than 50 employees have departed from the NTA. This step is among many other steps being taken in order to ensure accountability and restructuring.
According to the Ministry of Education, the NTA is also taking the step of setting up a new professional leadership structure so as to increase its skills in areas such as technology, finance, security and inspections.
Also, there are ten specialized leadership roles that have been announced and are currently being filled by the education ministry. Among these roles include general manager test security, chief technology officer, chief finance officer, chief information security officer and general manager research and development and psychometrics.
The purpose of these posts is to introduce more professional skills within the agency and increase its capacity for conducting massive examinations effectively and efficiently.
As stated by the ministry, the domain experts from the private sector will also be employed for various domains such as question papers design, psychometric assessment, and cyber-security.
This move aims at enhancing the technological competence and offering special knowledge to important examination processes. Joshi has ordered NTA to reconstruct its Confidential Operations (CONOPS) framework militarily.
Steps like fortification of isolated rooms, use of air-gapped systems, and strict adherence to device deposit process have been ordered. These steps aim at increasing the security of private examination documents and minimizing the chances of any unauthorized access.
In addition, the minister has directed the staff to ensure that the examination protocol that has been set is adhered to during the examination process. In order to prevent such issues from happening in future exams, the NTA has been tasked to identify weaknesses in the current processes and put in place corrective measures.
The NTA has been tasked with carrying out an audit of the examination processes as part of the overhaul.
There should be a report submitted by the organization which will show the corrective measures that have been put in place after the audit. Examination security, secret operations and other processes related to conducting examinations at the national level are expected to be covered in the audit.
The new steps are taken in light of the need by the government to enhance the credibility, security and reliability of the examinations conducted by the NTA.
