New Delhi. A high-level committee of the Union Education Ministry will meet on Monday to give suggestions on examination reforms and review the functioning of the National Examination Agency (NTA). Sources gave this information. Amid the controversy over irregularities in competitive examinations, the Education Ministry has constituted a high-level committee of experts under the leadership of former Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chief K. Radhakrishnan to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through NTA.
A source said, “Taking immediate action, the first meeting of the committee will be held on Monday. The committee will submit its report within two months. The reforms that have been recommended will be implemented by the next exam cycle. The committee will also look into the exam calendar and make suggestions.” The committee will make recommendations on improving the mechanism of the examination process, improving data security protocols and the structure and functioning of the NTA.
The committee includes former director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi Randeep Guleria, Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad Central University Professor BJ Rao, Professor Emeritus K Ramamurthy of the Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. Pankaj Bansal, co-founder of ‘People Strong’ and board member of Karmayogi Bharat, Aditya Mittal, Dean of Student Affairs of IIT Delhi and Govind Jaiswal, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Education are also included in the committee.
The committee will evaluate the existing data security processes and protocols of NTA and suggest measures for its improvement. This exam was conducted by NTA on May 5 at 4,750 centers in 571 cities, including 14 foreign cities. More than 23 lakh candidates appeared for the exam. 67 students who appeared for this exam scored 720 marks which is unprecedented in the history of NTA. These also include six students from a center in Faridabad, Haryana, which has raised suspicion of irregularities.
There was also a controversy over the grace marks given to students to compensate for the loss of time at six centers. Later, the Center told the apex court that the grace marks were being canceled and these 1,563 students would be given the option to take the exam again. The NEET-UG exam is conducted by the NTA for admission to MBBS, BDS, AYUSH and other related courses in government and private institutions across the country.
Facing criticism over alleged anomalies in competitive exams, the Centre on Saturday removed NTA Director General Subodh Singh and set up a seven-member committee headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Radhakrishnan to review the functioning of the agency and recommend exam reforms. It postponed the NEET-PG (NEET-Postgraduate) entrance exam, the fourth entrance exam to be affected in recent times.
Tags: NEET, net exam
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 23, 2024, 23:57 IST