NTA needs to quickly get its act together: Parliamentary panel on exams, paper leaks

New Delhi: There should be greater focus on conducting entrance exams in pen-and-paper mode as there are several models which have been leak-proof for several years like the CBSE boards and UPSC exams, a Parliamentary panel has recommended, while noting that the performance of the National Testing Agency (NTA) during the last year has not inspired much confidence.

The panel headed by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh noted that in 2024 alone, of the 14 competitive examinations conducted by the NTA, at least five faced major issues.

"... as a result, three examinations -- UGC-NET, CSIR-NET and NEET-PG -- had to be postponed, one examination viz. NEET-UG saw instances of paper leaks, and one examination -- CUET (UG/PG) -- saw its results postponed.

"In JEE Main 2025, held in January 2025, at least 12 questions had to be withdrawn due to errors noted in the final answer key of the engineering entrance exam," the panel said in its report.

The Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports observed that such instances do not inspire confidence of the examinees in the system.

"The committee therefore recommends that NTA need to quickly get their act together so that such instances, which otherwise are fully avoidable, do not occur in future," it said.

"The committee was informed that with regard to securing the examination process, the tradeoffs are as follows. Pen and paper exams offer more opportunities for paper leaks, while computer-based tests (CBT) can be hacked in a manner that is difficult to detect," the report said.

Between the two, the Committee supported a greater focus on pen-and-paper examinations, given that there are several models of such examinations that have been leak-proof for several years -- including the CBSE exams and the UPSC exams.

The Committee recommended that the NTA closely study these models and implement the same.

Further, in the case of computer-based tests (CBT), the Committee recommended that these exams be hosted only in government or government-controlled centres and never in private centres.

The committee also noted that several firms involved in paper setting, administration and correction have been blacklisted by one organisation and state government, but it is not impeding their securing of contracts from other states or organisations.

"The committee is of the view that such blacklisted firms must not be engaged for any entrance test by the NTA or the state governments.

"The committee therefore recommends that the department should compile a nationwide list of blacklisted firms along with the persons or entities that constitute such firms so as to prevent such firms, persons or entities from securing future contracts and bring further clarity in this regard," it said.

The panel noted that the NTA collected an estimated Rs 3,512.98 crore while it has spent Rs 3,064.77 crore on the conduct of examinations, thereby creating a surplus of Rs 448 crore in the last six years.

"The committee recommends that this corpus should be used to build the agency’s capabilities to conduct tests itself, or to strengthen regulatory and monitoring capabilities for its vendors," it said.