NTA’s Delay in Conducting Entrance Exams Putting Students’ Futures at Risk

The NTA was constituted to improve the educational system. But the NTA has become ‘National Tension Agency.’

The agency has been late in conducting most of the entrance exams.

(Photo: The Quint)

English Script: Aparna Singh

Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan,

The Union Cabinet, in a historic move in 2017, approved the constitution of National Testing Agency (NTA) to improve the educational system. But in the five years since then, the NTA has become ‘National Tension Agency.’

The agency has been late in conducting most of the entrance exams. The UGC-NET has been postponed, the CUET exams are getting cancelled and the NTA is in dire need of reforms.

A student told The Quint, “I had my CUET exam on 30 August. I was given an option of Rae Bareli as my centre. The Lucknow centre was conducting the exam on 14 and 18 August. Since my home is closer to Rae Bareli, I selected that centre for 30 August.”

But on the day of the exam, he got to know that his centre has been changed to Lucknow, which is 100 km from his home. Yash missed his examination.

On 17 August, the University Grants Commission informed that the CUET-UG exams have been cancelled for 13 centres due to “unavoidable technical reasons.” Over 8,000 students were affected by this.

The exams have been getting postponed over and over again. Not just that, the notification of cancellations of some other entrance exams have been issued on short notice.

Some exams were even cancelled citing COVID-19. If the elections were possible during the pandemic, why can’t the exams be held as scheduled?

Is the education ministry unaware of this? Why is the NTA making the same mistakes over and over? And it is because of these reasons we are forced to ask, Janab, Aise Kaise?