- One bitten, twice shy is the often-heard maxim when someone encounters an embarrassing situation but ensures he/she doesn’t repeat the mistake again. Wiser individuals and people expressly aware of the sensitivities involved with the self-respect/esteem issues would be determined not to commit any mistakes already committed. Why go through the gamut of embarrassment and humiliation by simply staying true to oneself and learning from the lessons learnt. Unfortunately, the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the officials entrusted with the task of conducting some of the most important entrance exams to professional courses have repeatedly failed lakhs of students whose efforts, hard work, and dreams stand shattered.
PC: India Today
- The ineptitude of the NTA while conducting NEET was flashed across the national media, causing so much heartburn, frustration, and an exasperated sense of ennui among the students and parents alike. The latest to hit the headlines is the CBSE fiasco. NTA and CBSE have a lot to answer for. Their test systems have evidently failed, risking Indian youngsters’ futures. The CUET-UG 2026 (university entrance exams) is the latest episode in the unending saga of gross incompetence of NTA and CBSE’s stunning institutional failure. Repeated paper leaks, administrative chaos, a leadership vacuum at NTA, and the so-called technical glitches are embarrassing attempts at cover-ups, poor communication, and a breathtaking indifference to millions of students.
PC: The Jan Post
- CUET-UG 2006 suffered a technical glitch recently. The exam was delayed by hours. Several could not finish the test. For these kids, and those who left exam centres once the glitch happened, there will be a re-test, it was announced. How glibly authorities mention that kids will have an opportunity to take the test again. How cruel one can be. Do they have no idea the toll such an unending cycle of exams has? NTA and CBSE have become symbols of gross incompetence in their rushed drive to centralise and go digital. Instead of transitioning to digitized formats only after investments are complete, systems are secure and fail-safe, and emergency response teams are adequate, both NTA and CBSE scramble for damage control after every debacle.
PC: The Indian Express
- Each year, at NTA, reaction is episodic. Who is to blame for the gap in oversight during the implementation of security protocols, incorporated after NEET-UG 2024’s leak? The paper-leak mafia appears to be getting the better of the Centre. Why did CBSE transition to onscreen marking before its scanning infra was in place? Inexcusable. It’s apparent that the corners have been cut. Who will investigate why exam bodies are failing to build systems that work? As each vulnerability is probed, the solution should not be to simply shuffle bureaucrats. This is not an operational or logistics nightmare, but a policy and design failure. It is a depressing betrayal of an entire generation of students if the very bodies conducting exams cannot be trusted to hold them fairly.
