Ridhima Bansal emerged from her NEET-UG examination center in New Delhi on a hot afternoon in May, radiating happiness and confidence. After months of intensive study, she believes she has successfully navigated the medical entrance exam.
Noting that the government and the NTA have introduced several reform measures, he said the long-term solution is continuous risk assessment, fewer people handling confidential material, digital traceability and independent checks at every stage. The National Testing Agency , which conducted the exam, came under severe attack for obvious reasons. So did the government. From medical and engineering entrance tests to university admissions, the NTA has become a central part of India’s exam system, but questions over its capacity, security mechanisms and centralised structure have thrown its capability to shoulder the responsibility it was entrusted with under the scanner.
Days later, she was told that the exam had been cancelled due to paper leaks and she would have to go through the grind again for a retest. When the NTA was envisaged in November 2017 as a single agency for conducting all higher education entrance exams in the country, it was supposed to be an elixir for all the ills plaguing the exam system for decades.
Test papers for some subjects, which, according to some unconfirmed reports, were created using AI, failed to meet even basic intelligence levels, riddled with multiple grammatical, factual and spelling errors. The government had then said it would benefit nearly 40 lakh students aspiring to be doctors, engineers, scholars, etc., by bringing in “high reliability” into the exam system.
