Ex-UGC head suggests 3 key changes to improve exam security

Kumar identified three areas that should receive immediate priority: securing the complete examination lifecycle, building permanent professional capacity and making examination centres and candidate services dependable.

Secure the entire examination lifecycle

Kumar said examination security cannot be limited to preventing paper leaks. The entire process, from question selection and translation to review, storage, printing or digital transmission and centre-level handling, needs to be secured.

“Every handover needs traceability and strict access control,” he said.

He suggested that every stage should generate a secure record of who accessed or changed examination material. The new four-tier question-paper scrutiny system should also be combined with limited access, encryption and independent security testing, he said.

Kumar said the Radhakrishnan Committee, which reviewed the NTA’s functioning, had recommended stronger standard operating procedures, better data security, clear responsibility and closer coordination with states.

“The long-term solution is continuous risk assessment, fewer people handling confidential material, digital traceability and independent checks at every stage,” he said.

Build permanent professional expertise

The second priority should be to develop permanent expertise within the NTA in areas such as test design, cyber-security, languages, quality analysis, logistics and vendor management.

“The recent leadership strengthening, expert-panel refresh and specialist recruitment are useful beginnings,” Kumar said.

He said selection, conflict-of-interest disclosure, training and performance review should become regular institutional processes rather than being treated as one-time measures.

Kumar also welcomed the reported refresh of about 600 experts and the introduction of four-tier question-paper scrutiny. However, he said no single intervention could complete an institution-wide reform.

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“My assessment is that the expert-panel refresh is a strong corrective measure. Yet no single measure can complete an institution-wide reform. The wider reform programme is therefore necessary and is underway,” he said.

Improve examination centres and candidate services

The third priority identified by Kumar was the quality and reliability of examination centres. He said NTA should continue expanding and upgrading its infrastructure as examination requirements change.

“Infrastructure must therefore be tested and upgraded continuously,” he said.

He suggested creating more accredited examination centres, preferably in dependable public institutions. Such centres should have CCTV monitoring, biometric verification, reliable power and connectivity, accessibility facilities and trained staff.

“Centre quality and candidate support must remain consistent across hundreds of cities,” he said.

Should NTA conduct fewer examinations?

Kumar acknowledged that NTA’s workload is “very large”, but said the number of examinations alone does not establish that the agency is overburdened. Instead, the complexity of each examination should be considered.

“The real issue is the complexity behind each examination,” he said.

He referred to the partnership model proposed by the Radhakrishnan Committee. Under this model, ministries, regulators or institutions seeking an examination would remain responsible for the syllabus, subject experts, question quality and academic validation. NTA, meanwhile, could focus on the secure examination platform, centre network, candidate verification, examination delivery and result processing.

Should examinations be divided among multiple agencies?

Kumar said he would not recommend creating multiple examination agencies merely to reduce NTA’s visible workload.

“A single national testing body offers common security standards, technology, candidate services and result procedures. Creating many new agencies could duplicate costs and produce uneven safeguards,” he said.

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Instead, he said NTA should be developed as a “mission-critical professional institution”. He said the agency has accumulated examination experience, technology, records and a national network of centres, which should be strengthened rather than discarded.

“NTA needs deep structural strengthening, but replacing the institution itself may not be the most useful answer,” Kumar said.

What should be the long-term NTA reform roadmap?

Kumar said the Radhakrishnan Committee’s recommendations provide a “sound roadmap” for strengthening the agency. These include clearly defining responsibilities, strengthening institutional links with states and making ministries and institutions requesting examinations active knowledge partners.

He noted that the government has already taken several steps, including senior appointments, specialist leadership positions, authentication systems and state-level coordination. The government had also reported in July that 35 of the committee’s 46 major action points had been implemented.

Kumar said the long-term objective should be to build NTA into a professional institution capable of handling high-stakes examinations at a national scale while continuously updating its security and technological systems.