New Delhi : Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi held a meeting with the Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Director General of the National Testing Agency (NTA), and other senior officials to review the steps being taken by the NTA following recent issues and to assess reforms aimed at strengthening the overall examination system.
During the meeting, the Minister was apprised of several measures already undertaken by the NTA as part of its reform process. These include:
- More than 50 staff members have been removed from the NTA.
- Ten new professional leadership positions have been advertised, including Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chief Finance Officer (CFO), Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), General Manager–Test Security, General Manager–R&D and Psychometrics, among others. The recruitment and onboarding process is underway.
- Domain specialists from the private sector are being brought in for specialised areas such as cybersecurity, psychometrics and question-paper design.
Minister Pralhad Joshi directed officials to ensure strict compliance with all established examination protocols and called for a comprehensive overhaul of the Confidential Operations (CONOPS) architecture.
The Minister further directed that measures including secluded rooms, air-gapped systems and strict device-deposit protocols be implemented on a war footing to strengthen examination security and prevent any compromise of confidential examination processes.
The NTA has also been directed to conduct a thorough audit of all examination processes and submit a report detailing the corrective measures taken to address identified gaps and strengthen the examination system.