When 18-year-old Vidhi Suryavanshi from Madhya Pradesh scored only 6 marks in the 2020 NEET undergraduate exam, she hanged herself in despair. Later, it emerged that the National Testing Agency had reported her results incorrectly and she had actually scored 590 marks. Then, in 2021, the JEE Main exam was compromised due to the software being hacked by a Russian national, allowing students to cheat, as others were able to remotely access their computers and take the exam on their behalf.
Several years and multiple exams later, the NTA, the nodal exam body that decides the fate of lakhs of young aspirants is facing fresh heat. From inflated rankings and grace marks in NEET, paper leak cases in Bihar and Gujarat, the cancellation of UGC-NET, and anomalies in the government recruitment exam under the Ministry of Commerce, the world’s second-largest student testing body has been unravelling this week.
The agency has tried to brave the storm of controversies through its X handle, press conferences, and appearances in the Supreme Court, claiming that a drastic increase in the NEET cut-off reflects the exam’s competitiveness and not integrity issues. They also argued that changes in NCERT textbooks and grace marks for lost time also contributed to higher scores. However, the NTA’s arguments, clarifications, and statements seem to be falling flat with each passing day. What is coming out stitches a tale of everything that’s wrong with the way India decides admissions to its higher education institutes. And that is why the National Testing Agency is ThePrint’s Newsmaker of the week.
“The NTA relies on private companies and contracts for its human resources, which leads to a lack of accountability. Another major issue is the increasingly organised vested interests that create a strong link between the coaching industry and the cheating ecosystem,” said Vijender Chauhan, associate professor at Delhi University. “Without the political will to dismantle this ecosystem, paper leaks and unreliable examinations will continue to be a problem.”
Also Read: ‘I didn’t fail the exam, system failed me’—NEET 2024 students go back to preparing again
NTA and its impact
The role, responsibility, and functioning of the NTA have a far-reaching impact in India, where lakhs of students enter the higher education stream to make a career for themselves. So, when a paper leaks somewhere in Bihar, as it did in the case of NEET (UG) 2024, it’s all of India that gets impacted.
This year, around 24 lakh students applied for the NEET exam for admission to medical colleges. Similarly, around 11 lakh students registered for the UGC NET, hoping to secure research fellowships and assistant professor eligibility. These are just two exams out of many that the NTA organises, including CUET, JNUET, GPAT, and JEE (Main).
Candidates prepare for months for these exams, spending money on coaching and staying in hostels. A cancelled exam or a sudden and extreme rise in cut-off marks can upend their entire lives.
Established in 2017 by the central government, the NTA operates as an autonomous body under the Department of Higher Education within the Union Ministry of Education. Its mandate is conducting entrance examinations for admissions and fellowships in higher education institutions.
The agency became operational on 5 September 2018, with an initial budget of Rs 25 crore for its first year. It conducted only the UGC-NET exam in the first year of its functioning, gradually taking over the responsibility for other exams from 2019 onwards. It is currently in charge of more than 2,546 centres.
At present, the agency is led by former UPSC chairperson Pradeep Kumar Joshi. Its governing body comprises a team of 14, including chairperson Joshi. Its governing body comprises a team of 14, including the chairman. IAS officer Subodh Kumar Singh serves as its director general.
Soon after its inception, problems that plagued state-level exam conducting bodies followed the NTA, with several controversies and allegations of irregularities marring its tenure. In one case, a 2020 NEET aspirant called Mridul Rawat claimed that he was declared as a low-scorer but had actually topped in the ST category, although the NTA denied this vociferously. Most recently, the JEE (Main) 2022 exam faced criticism due to technical issues, answer key glitches, and response sheet problems, which ultimately resulted in lower scores for some students.
PILs in the Supreme Court
The NTA’s charter is to assess the “competence of candidates” for admission and recruitment. Today, its own competency is under question, and it has to pass a critical test in the highest court of the country.
In the wake of the unprecedented rank inflation in the NEET results— blamed on factors such as paper leaks, exam centre mismanagement, and grace marks—a wave of PILs has landed at the Supreme Court’s doors. NEET aspirants and coaching institute owners to RTI activists have approached the court, demanding the removal of grace marks and a re-conduct of the exam.
“Even if there is 0.001 per cent negligence on the part of anyone, it should be thoroughly dealt with,” a two-judge vacation bench told advocates appearing for the NTA and central government Tuesday.
Earlier, on 13 June, the NTA had informed the Supreme Court that it would withdraw the “grace marks” given to 1,563 candidates marks” and would give them the opportunity to re-take the test or to settle for their original score, sans the grace marks.
This, too had led to a submission before the court that over 700 of these students had failed the test and should not be given the option to appear again.
However, on Friday, the court refused to postpone counselling for medical college admissions or to stay the re-test of the 1,563 candidates, scheduled for 23 June.
The Supreme Court has tagged all new pleas along with pending petitions and posted them for hearing on 8 July.
Meanwhile, other controversies have been bubbling over, with student protests also picking up pace.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education announced the cancellation of the UGC-NET examination on the grounds that its integrity had been compromised. At the same time, compelling evidence has been mounting about a NEET paper leak in Bihar.
While Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had earlier denied allegations of a paper leak, he acknowledged “institutional failures” on the part of the NTA while speaking at a press conference Thursday.
“The government is going to form a high-level committee,” Pradhan said. “Recommendations will be expected from that high-level committee to further improve NTA, its structure, functioning, examination process, transparency, and data security protocol.”
‘Never Trust Again’
Much before the courts and the politicians lent their weight to the students’ cause, social media emerged as the place for the dissent that has now spread nationwide.
Platforms like X, Telegram, Reddit, and Instagram have become hubs for highlighting the NTAs failures, from irregularities and mismanagement to paper leaks. Students and others are expressing their grievances, concerns, and frustration through posts and memes criticising the agency’s handling of exams.
One Instagram user sarcastically redefined NTA as “Never Trust Again”. Another X user exhorted the NTA, saying, “Ab toh sach bol de (At least now tell the truth)”.
Whole India to NTA president :- #NEET #Paperleaks pic.twitter.com/LsXpq7ZdAY
— खुरपेंच (@khurpenchh) June 20, 2024
Social media users are demanding the scrapping of the NTA, Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, and expressing their anger at NEET not being cancelled.
The nodal testing body is supposed to conduct entrance exams in a fair, efficient, and error-free manner. Instead, in less than a fortnight, it has become synonymous with cheating, mismanagement, and irregularities.
The NTA was a reformative hope to free India from paper leaks and “Munna Bhais” who gamed the exam system using mobile phones. Today, it faces its biggest test and students are the invigilators.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)