The National Testing Agency (NTA) has postponed at least 16 exams for various reasons since its inception in 2018, the Ministry of Education informed the Lok Sabha on 22nd July. The postponements were due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and administrative, logistical, and technical issues. Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar shared this information in response to a written question in Lok Sabha.
According to the minister, since its inception in 2018, NTA has successfully conducted over 240 examinations involving over 5.4 crore students. Due to unforeseen circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic, logistical and technical issues, administrative issues, and legal orders, there have been instances when examination dates initially notified for specific subjects or shifts could not be adhered to. The minister explained that the NTA has begun releasing examination calendars for major exams well in advance to aid candidates. These calendars include buffer days to account for reschedules and postponements due to reasons beyond NTA’s control.
The data provided by the minister indicated that four exams—JEE-Main (2020), NEET-UG (2020), JEE-Main (2021), and NEET-UG (2021)—were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. CSIR UGC-NET (2020), UGC-NET (December 2020), UGC-NET (May 2021), and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) AIEEA (2020) were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and logistical challenges.
The Delhi University Entrance Test (DUET) 2020 for UG, PG-MPhil, and PhD admissions was postponed as the registration process was put on hold by DU due to the pandemic. The Common Management Admission Test (CMAT)-2021 was postponed due to the revision of the examination pattern by the AICTE. The All India Ayush Post Graduate Entrance Test (AIAPGET) 2021 and Joint Integrated Programme in Management Admission Test (JIPMAT) 2021 were also postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The IGNOU PhD Entrance was postponed in 2022 due to administrative reasons. The Graduate Aptitude Test Biotechnology (GAT-B) 2023 was postponed after consulting regional centres for biotechnology. In 2024, the National Common Entrance Test (NCET) 2024 was postponed due to technical issues, and the CSIR-NET 2024 due to logistical issues.
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