ETS keen on partnering with HRD Ministry for National Testing Agency

The Educational Testing Services (ETS), known for conducting the global TOEFL and the GRE tests, is keen on partnering with the HRD Ministry for the Centre's ambitious National Testing Agency (NTA) project.

The non-profit company also wants to join hands with the Indian government in its skill development initiatives and develop standarised skill tests to help employers during recruitment, Global COO of ETS David Payne told PTI in an interview.

In an effort to relieve the CBSE, the AICTE and other agencies from the responsibility of conducting entrance tests, the Union Cabinet had in December last year approved the setting up of the NTA with an aim to bring in high reliability, standardised difficulty level for assessing the aptitude, intelligence and problem solving abilities of students.

"The core part of developing any kind of testing agency is for people to have confidence in its reliability. We are in the process of discussion to understand what kind of testing they (NTA) really want to do. We have worked with our government's to develop similar kinds of test keeping in mind their local context and dynamics, the COO of the US-based company said.

"We have been doing this for over 70 years and can bring value with our technical expertise and global reach. Ultimately, its up to the government how they want to go ahead with it," he added.

Payne explained hat India is a huge market for both the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
On the ways in which ETS can partner with the skill development initiatives, Payne said, "To have skill development with out a way of measuring the impact, skill development will not be useful, but also we are having tests that are standardised and reliable and worthy of being considered."