National Testing Agency to replace CBSE in conducting NEET

Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley in his budget speech, on Wednesday,proposed the establishment of a National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct all academic entrance examinations. This will result in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), getting relieved of all administrative work of conducting examinations. His announcement is a clear indication of the National Eligibility Entrance Test(NEET), for admissions to medical colleges of the country, now falling under the purview of the NBA. The CBSE body has been looking after the conduction of NEET at the all India level, presently.

The minister also spoke about reforming the University Grants Commission(UGC), resulting in greater autonomy being granted to quality higher educational institutions.

Though Mr. Jaitley did not mention individual allocations under key education heads , the NTA is to be a key beneficiary reports the TOI.

In the absence of any national testing body, CBSE conducts major higher education related entrances apart from school leaving exams at Class 10 and Class 12 level for CBSE affiliated schools

The NTA, once in place, can conduct all entrance examinations including the two-tier JEE, CAT, CTET, UGC -NET and NEET, among others.