NTA announces major change for UGC-NET retest
What's the story
The National Testing Agency (NTA), in a late-night notification on Friday, announced new dates for the cancelled University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET). The new dates for the exam have now been set between August 21 and September 4. In the same notification, the agency also said that, unlike the previous test, which was held in pen and paper (offline) mode, the retest will be held in computer-based Computer-Based Test (CBT) mode.
Additional exams
NTA announces dates for other examinations
Alongside the UGC NET, the NTA has also released dates for other examinations. It announced that the NCET 2024 exam will take place on July 10, while the Joint CSIR UGC NET will be conducted from July 25 to 27. The All India Ayush Post Graduate Entrance Test (AIAPGET) 2024 will proceed as originally planned on July 6.
Leak incident
Exam cancellation triggered by question paper leak
The UGC-NET exam was cancelled barely a day after thousands of students had appeared for the exam due to concerns that the "integrity of the examination might have been compromised." Later, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan revealed that the question paper was leaked on the darknet and circulated on the Telegram app. A subsequent investigation discovered that the paper was leaked on June 16, just two days before the exam, and sold for more than ₹5 lakh.
Reform initiative
Committee formed to reform NTA examination process
Amid the cancellation of exams conducted by the NTA, the Education Minister announced the formation of a high-level committee "to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations." Headed by former ISRO Chairman Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, the committee's objective is to gather feedback from students and parents to improve the NTA and its examination process. The committee aims to propose measures that will strengthen these procedures and implement monitoring mechanisms to ensure compliance at every level.