The National Testing Agency, which is being set up to relieve the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) of the burden of conducting multiple examinations, will also train paper setters to set better question papers and provide better model answers.
“There is no system for paper-setter training till now. We will introduce it as part of the National Testing Agency’s mandate,” HRD minister Prakash Javadekar told journalists on Tuesday, while listing the “achievements” of the Modi government in the field of education.
NTA to conduct exams
The agency’s mandate as envisaged by the Ministry of Human Resource Development is to put in place a robust system for the conduct of examinations.
The National Testing Agency is expected to conduct some of the examinations that the CBSE has been conducting till now, Mr. Javadekar, who held a review of the proposed body on Sunday, said.
Eventually, the new body will take over all examinations from the CBSE, except the 10th and 12th board examinations.
Among the examinations that will be transferred to the NTA are the prestigious Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for admission to engineering colleges like the IITs and NITs and the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to all medical colleges in the country, except AIIMS and JIPMER, Puducherry.
The creation of NTA was approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister in November 2017. After a one-time grant of ₹25 crore to the NTA, it is supposed to become financially self-sustainable.