The NTA, also known as the
National Test Agency, is an autonomous and self-sustaining registered society that is responsible for conducting
all entrance examinations nationwide for admission and recruitment of eligible candidates to higher and established educational institutes. It is charged with administering nearly 17 competitive exams, and it plans to train and manage 150 million applicants both domestically and abroad.
The mission of this organization is to improve equity and quality in education by administering research-based, valid, reliable, efficient, transparent, fair, and international-level assessments. A core NTA rule focuses on the accuracy, effectiveness, equity, and security of evaluations.
History of NTA
The National Test Agency is an Indian government agency established in November 2017 under
the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and has been approved by the Union Council of Ministers. The vision of this organization is to have the right candidates join the best institutions, which will give India her demographic dividend.
The first director general of the agency was Vineet Joshi. The call for the NTA came into play when there was a lot of corruption going on in such high-level examinations as leaking of the question paper, delays in exams, and their results. The organization of exams was improper, which is why a need for a transparent and standard agency was felt.
The actual start of the agency was in 2010, when a committee consisting of some of the directors of the IITs submitted a report to Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD)
in which it was said that a statutory agency could guarantee impartiality and openness when evaluating the scope of tests. In 2013, MHRD created a seven-person task committee to "develop a roadmap surrounding the concept of NTA."
Finally,
in 2017, the announcement about NTA was made by the Finance Minister of India in the budget speech, followed by cabinet approval. Before NTA, these exams were conducted by different organizations like CBSE, CSIR, UGC, and many more big organizations.
List of Examinations Conducted by the NTA
- All India Sainik School Entrance Examination (AISSEE)
- National Eligibility cum Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET)
- Joint Entrance Examination - Main (JEE Main)
- Common Management Admission Test (CMAT)
- Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test (GPAT)
- National Eligibility Test (CSIR NET)
- National Eligibility Test (UGC NET)
- ICAR’s All India Entrance Exam for Admission (AIEEA)
- IGNOU Phd and OPENMAT (MBA) Entrance examination
- Jawaharlal Nehru University Entrance Examination (JNUEE)
- Banaras Hindu University Entrance Test
- Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University Entrance Test
- Joint Entrance exam for Hotel Management
- Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Entrance Examination
Functions of NTA
- To find partner institutions from the existing schools and higher education institutions that have the necessary infrastructure to conduct online exams without negatively affecting their academic schedule.
- To articulate question bank for all subjects including mock test papers with the latest techniques.
- To build a team of testing professionals and a strong culture of research and development
- To assist individual colleges and universities with testing, as well as to give training and consultancy services to Indian institutions.
- To also provide quality test servicing to educational institutions.
- To establish a modern testing culture in India using both domestic and international talent. to work together with global organisations like ETS to accomplish the same.
- To administer any other exam that the State Governments, Ministries, or Departments of the Indian Government delegate to it.
- To implement changes and train school boards and other organizations whose testing requirements should be similar to those of entrance exams.
Team NTA
The core team members of NTA are test item writers, researchers, psychometricians, and education specialists. The group of researchers is responsible for research and analysis of data to support examinations, establish good evaluation practices, and influence policy at the national level.
The reliability of various versions of the tests, by ensuring that no group of students is either advantaged or disadvantaged due to the medium of examination or content of questions, is the responsibility of psychometricians and statisticians. Additionally, comparing several exams that will be taken over the course of a year by equating them.
The test item writers will construct items for the NTA on topics chosen by highly qualified professionals who have received training from statisticians and psychometricians. The NTA will primarily report on an in-depth analysis of educational achievement across states as well as gaps in achievement. It will certify the teacher’s quality and give input on students and the teacher's training needs. The educational reforms are the outcomes brought by NTA.
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