Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi has ordered a major revamp of the National Testing Agency. The decision has come following the recent cancellation of the UGC NET examination and related issues.
According to reports, more than 50 NTA staff members have been removed while 10 specialised leadership positions are being filled. The changes include hiring experts in cybersecurity, psychometrics and question-paper design.
As per the details provided, the Education Minister held a meeting with the Secretary, Department of Higher Education, DG NTA and other senior officials. The Minister was apprised of the steps taken by the NTA in the wake of recent issued particularly to reform the overall system. The following changes are being made
a. More than 50 staff have been removed from NTA.
b. Ten new professional leadership positions (Chief Technology Officer, Chief Finance Officer, CISO, GM, Test Security, GM, R&D and Psychometrics, and others) have been advertised and are being onboarded.
c. Domain specialists are being brought in from the private sector for cyber-security, psychometrics, question-paper design and other specialised areas.
The minister has also added that strict compliance is to be ensured with the established exam protocols and also directed that a complete overhaul of Confidential Operations (CONOPS) architecture, secluded rooms, air-gapped systems, and device-deposit protocols be implemented on a war footing.
Examination Team Reduced by 600 Members
According to reports, the education minister issued a directive stating all necessary security and related infrastructural facilities should be put in place for smooth conduct of the exam. A revamp of the exam team was undertaken with 600 experts removed and new exterts onboarded. this comes due to the recent NEET UG and UGC NET exam cancellation.
The NTA was again under the scanner when the English, Commerce and Sociology papers of the UGC NET Examination were cancelled due to irregularities and rescheduled to be held on September 9 and 10, 2026. The irregularities were pointed out by students, following which a committee was formed to look into the errors. As per the recommendation of the committee, it was decided that the exam will be conducted in September. The details of the re-examination will be provided on the official UGC NET website soon. Students will be issued an admit card for the re-examination.
