Page 6 - Education Ministry

Centre forms high-level committee to look into functioning of NTA

Panel to recommend reforms in exam process and submit report in 2 months

Centre notifies 7-member panel to reform process of NTA-conducted exams

The Ministry of Education said Saturday it has constituted a high-level committee of experts led by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the National Testing Agency (NTA). The seven-member committee will make recommendations on reforms in the mechanism of the examination process, improvement in data security protocols and the structure and functioning of the NTA, the Department of Higher Education in the ministry said. It added that the committee will submit its report to the ministry within two months. Central University of Hyderabad Vice-Chancellor Professor B J Rao and former director of AIIMS Delhi Randeep Guleria are on the panel.

NEET retest: 1,563 candidates to appear; NTA, govt official to be present

The NEET-UG retest for 1,563 candidates will be held on Sunday with National Testing Agency and Union education ministry officials present at the examination centres, a senior NTA official said on Friday. The retest for the medical entrance exam is being conducted after the agency withdrew grace marks awarded to students who were compensated for loss of time due to delay in start of examination at six centres in Meghalaya, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Chandigarh. Six students scored perfect 720 marks along with 61 others leading to allegations of inflation of marks. The retest will be held at seven centres -- six being new -- on Sunday. "While all other examination centres have changed, the one in Chandigarh, where only two candidates will appear, will remain the same," said the senior NTA official. "Besides, officials from the agency and the Union education ministry will also be present at these centres. The step has been taken to ensure smooth conduct of the re-exam," the

NET paper leak failure of NTA, govt to form panel to bring reforms: Pradhan

Question paper leak of UGC-NET is an "institutional failure" of National Testing Agency (NTA) and the government will set up a high-level committee to look into its functioning and recommend reforms, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Thursday amid a raging row over medical entrance exam NEET and cancellation of UGC-NET. "The cancellation of UGC-NET was not a knee-jerk reaction. We got proofs that the paper had leaked on darknet and was circulating on Telegram and decided to cancel the exam," Pradhan said at a press conference. "The paper leak is an institutional failure of NTA. We are assuring you that there will be a reform committee and action will be taken," he said. "The government is going to form a high-level committee regarding reforms in NTA. The committee will be expected to make recommendations to further improve NTA, its structure, functioning, examination process, transparency and data security protocols. Zero-error testing is our commitment. The .

NEET 2024: Prime accused admits to arranging exam papers for 4 candidates

In a startling revelation in the NEET paper leak case, prime accused Sikander Prasad Yadvendu in his confessional statement admitted to having arranged question papers for four exam aspirants to "prepare" them a day before the test and demanded Rs 40 lakh from each candidate. According to sources in the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar police, Yadvendu's confessional statement, recorded under Section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) on May 5, also detailed his contacts with Nitish Kumar and Amit Anand, allegedly known for leaking prestigious exam papers such as NEET. Yadvendu claimed that he demanded Rs 40 lakh from each aspirant, including his nephew Anurag Yadav, for providing the leaked question paper on May 4, a day before the exam. Yadvendu, a junior engineer at Bihar's Danapur Town Council, said, "I contacted Nitish and Amit and told them that I have four candidatesAyush Kumar, Anurag Yadav, Abhishek Kumar, and Shivnandan Kumar." Yadvendu claimed that Nitish and

Govt to form high-level committee to improve functioning of NTA: Pradhan

Calling paper leaks an institutional failure of NTA, Pradhan said that the reform committee will be notified in some days and will consist of technocrats, scientists, administrators, and academicians

'UGC-NET paper leaked on dark net': Education minister on exam row

'Govt is committed to safeguarding interest of students,' Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said during a press conference

What is National Testing Agency, exam body slammed over UGC NET, NEET row?

UGC-NET exam row: The NTA is an autonomous body entrusted with conducting entrance examinations for admission and fellowship in higher educational institutions

'Integrity compromised': NTA cancels UGC-NET exam, matter with CBI

The education ministry has said a fresh examination will be conducted, for which information shall be shared separately

Protesters booked for trying to enter Dharmendra Pradhan's Delhi residence

A group of people was booked for allegedly protesting and trying to enter the residence of Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan here, officials said on Saturday. A case under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant) was registered at the South Avenue Police station on Thursday, they said. According to the FIR, around 20 people arrived in three to four cars and gathered outside the Union minister's residence -- House number 19, Kushak Road in South Avenue. The protesters were carrying pamphlets of National Students' Union of India (NSUI), it said, adding that some mediapersons were also present at the spot. The police informed the protesters that as section 144 of CrPC has been imposed in the area, they cannot gather here but they did not stop and raised slogans, the FIR stated. It added that the protesters got agitated and even tried to enter the Union minister's house. Later, more force was called from the police station and the proteste

Modi govt 3.0: Dharmendra Pradhan to continue as education minister

Dharmendra Pradhan will continue to be the education minister in the new Narendra Modi government while Jayant Chaudhary and Sukanta Majumdar will be the ministers of state for education, the President Secretariat announced on Monday. Chaudhary has also been deputed as the MoS (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. Majumdar will also hold charge as MoS in the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region. Pradhan, who was inducted in the Union Cabinet for the third time on Sunday, has returned to the Lok Sabha after 15 years, after he won from Sambalpur in Odisha, defeating the Biju Janata Dal's Pranab Prakash Das by a substantial margin of more than 1.19 lakh votes. He was tasked with the implementation of the ambitious new National Education Policy (NEP) in his previous tenure as the education and skill development minister. Pradhan, a prominent face of the BJP in Odisha, was also seen as a probable choice for the state's first BJP chief

'Grace marks given to 1,563 students to be reviewed': NTA on NEET exam row

NEET result controversy: Many NEET-UG aspirants and the Opposition parties alleged irregularities in the examination result, in which an unprecedented 67 students scored a perfect 720 out of 720 marks

NEET-UG 2024 row explained: 6 students from same exam centre get top rank

NEET result controversy: Several candidates alleged that the inflation of marks has resulted in 67 candidates securing the top rank. Six of these candidates are from the same exam centre in Haryana

Top colleges, care for heritage. Here's what Patna's well-known want

State-of-the-art higher educational institutions, urban renewal with sensitive planning and upkeep of shrinking built heritage are among the post-poll expectations of some of Patna's well-known families. Polling will be held in the two Lok Sabha seats under Patna district -- Patna Sahib and Pataliputra -- on June 1. Both the seats have over 43 lakh electors. Businessman Abhay Kanoria, 59, who comes from an affluent Marwari family of Patna and calls himself a proud Bihari, feels the state has the potential to regain its lost glory. "My expectations for Patna from the government that will come to power, is that it should help establish some state-of-the-art academic institutions here. We have a lot of good schools here, but after 12th, students just want to leave Patna and do not want to study in existing universities in Bihar, as they don't get the quality of education they can get elsewhere," Kanoria told PTI here. He alleged that bureaucratic red tape has "lessened" but still exi

Spending 6% of GDP must to make India developed by 2047: VIT chancellor

Political parties in India should take the education sector seriously as a country's economy is directly linked to its education, chancellor of the prestigious Vellore Institute of Technology Govindasamy Viswanathan has said. In an interview with PTI, he said there is a need to spend 6 per cent of the nation's GDP on the education sector as it is vital to achieve the goal of India being a developed nation by 2047. The per capita income of India in 2023 is USD 2,600. Those states which are good in education like the southern states or the western states are all above the national average, he told PTI. In the southern states, it varies from USD 3,500 to USD 4,000. Kerala comes first, Telangana second, and Tamil Nadu is third... They're all around USD 4,000. Whereas Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are less than USD 1,000 because they lag in education, he said. It is not known to the people. People have to be taught about this. Political parties don't take it seriously. Unless we concentrate o

Getting India's growth priority right

To catch up with peers, not only in size but also in per capita income, India must focus on health and education

Education, wealth likely to explain fertility rates better than religion

Research also suggests that the role of religion may be more limited when compared to other factors

NCERT issues warning against pirated textbooks, factually incorrect content

The NCERT on Monday issued a warning against pirated school textbooks, flagging possibilities of factually incorrect content. It also warned against copyright infringement of its educational materials, cautioning the public against unauthorised printing and commercial sale of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) school textbooks. "A few unscrupulous publishers were printing NCERT school textbooks available on its website under their own name, without obtaining permission from the NCERT. Anyone found publishing NCERT textbooks, either in whole or in part, for commercial sale or using NCERT textbook content in their publications without obtaining explicit copyright permission, will face legal repercussions under the Copyright Act of 1957," a senior council official said. "The general public is requested to kindly stay away from such textbooks or workbooks as their content may be factually incorrect as well as against the basic philosophy of NCF (National ...

Edtech firm Aakash Educational Services appoints Deepak Mehrotra as new CEO

Edtech firm Byju's group firm Aakash Educational Services Ltd on Monday said it has appointed Deepak Mehrotra as its managing director and chief executive officer. The position of CEO at Aakash has been lying vacant after Abhishek Maheshwari resigned from the company in September 2023. Mehrotra's appointment fills in the position of CEO after a gap of about seven months. Mehrotra joined the office with immediate effect, the company said in a statement on Monday. "As we enter the next phase of growth, it's our pleasure to welcome Deepak to lead Aakash Educational Services Ltd. In his role as CEO, he will be responsible to deliver on our aggressive growth plan and to build on the significant momentum the company is currently experiencing. "His business acumen and stellar record as the Managing Director for Pearson India will be pivotal in leading Aakash BYJU'S into its next phase of growth and impact," Byju's, Founder and Chairman Byju Raveendran said. With over 35 years of experie

CBSE modifies evaluation pattern, focus on competency-based questions

The changes have been introduced to align the assessment and evaluation practices with NEP 2020 for the academic session 2024-25