NEW DELHI: The National Testing Agency (NTA) is experiencing a complete meltdown, with staff unsure about safe delivery of any exam due to the ‘darknet’ threat. Despite the challenges, there is still an expectation to conduct and announce results on time to prevent delays in the academic calendar, which managed to get back on track last year after the Covid-19 disruptions in 2020.Another major concern is keeping the agency together amid rumours of officials on deputation looking to leave.
Veteran staff members believe that whether exams are computer-based or offline, it will be difficult to regain confidence until the agency’s fundamentals are regrouped. The NTA has had to cancel three national-level tests, including two – National Common Entrance Test (NCET) 2024 for admission to the four-year integrated teacher education program (ITEP) and the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) – after the exams were conducted. CSIR-UGC-NET was postponed days before the exam.
Big shake-up in tech needed to secure exams: Official
“A big shake-up in technology and capacity building is needed,” said a senior official. He noted that merely looking at exam models proposed by the forthcoming high-powered committee will not be enough. For example, the computer-based ITEP had to be cancelled “despite having a comparatively smaller number of candidates. Each file was around 5GB, and when downloaded at the centres, they received distorted question papers”.
ITEP is the entrance test for select central and state universities, IITs, NITs, RIEs, and govt colleges for integrated teacher education programmes.
Sources in the IT department are confident that CUET-UG results could be ready by June 30, but they are uncertain about the rescheduling of the cancelled and postponed exams. Citing the example of the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) paper leak in 2004, where CBSE managed to hold the exam within a week, an NTA source said the agency’s secrecy department, IT, and administrative staff “don’t feel it’s possible now” due to fears that organisations using the ‘dark web’ have completely hacked into NTA’s security protocols and “have decided to expose the chinks this year”.
“They are not going to stop. The dark web is used by terrorist organisations. We are not sure how safe even our black box (where question papers are stored) is,” said a worried official, indicating that NTA doesn’t have the capacity to thwart such “organised attacks”. A source in the govt added, “A national level think tank needs to work on such threats.”
While questioning the recent functioning of the agency, insiders insist there have been no “paper leaks in Bihar”. “Two days ago, Bihar Police asked for details of six candidates, sharing their roll numbers. Two of the roll numbers don’t exist, in another two, the names and roll numbers don’t match. There are so many contradictions, including the timing of the seizures, which was post-exam when all the question papers are already in the public domain,” said an official from NTA’s computer section.
Within the autonomous organisation, there are strong rumours of a “big exodus” of officials on deputation who feel their careers are at stake.
Veteran staff members believe that whether exams are computer-based or offline, it will be difficult to regain confidence until the agency’s fundamentals are regrouped. The NTA has had to cancel three national-level tests, including two – National Common Entrance Test (NCET) 2024 for admission to the four-year integrated teacher education program (ITEP) and the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) – after the exams were conducted. CSIR-UGC-NET was postponed days before the exam.
Big shake-up in tech needed to secure exams: Official
“A big shake-up in technology and capacity building is needed,” said a senior official. He noted that merely looking at exam models proposed by the forthcoming high-powered committee will not be enough. For example, the computer-based ITEP had to be cancelled “despite having a comparatively smaller number of candidates. Each file was around 5GB, and when downloaded at the centres, they received distorted question papers”.
ITEP is the entrance test for select central and state universities, IITs, NITs, RIEs, and govt colleges for integrated teacher education programmes.
Sources in the IT department are confident that CUET-UG results could be ready by June 30, but they are uncertain about the rescheduling of the cancelled and postponed exams. Citing the example of the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) paper leak in 2004, where CBSE managed to hold the exam within a week, an NTA source said the agency’s secrecy department, IT, and administrative staff “don’t feel it’s possible now” due to fears that organisations using the ‘dark web’ have completely hacked into NTA’s security protocols and “have decided to expose the chinks this year”.
“They are not going to stop. The dark web is used by terrorist organisations. We are not sure how safe even our black box (where question papers are stored) is,” said a worried official, indicating that NTA doesn’t have the capacity to thwart such “organised attacks”. A source in the govt added, “A national level think tank needs to work on such threats.”
While questioning the recent functioning of the agency, insiders insist there have been no “paper leaks in Bihar”. “Two days ago, Bihar Police asked for details of six candidates, sharing their roll numbers. Two of the roll numbers don’t exist, in another two, the names and roll numbers don’t match. There are so many contradictions, including the timing of the seizures, which was post-exam when all the question papers are already in the public domain,” said an official from NTA’s computer section.
Within the autonomous organisation, there are strong rumours of a “big exodus” of officials on deputation who feel their careers are at stake.