16 exams have been postponed by NTA since 2018: Education ministry in Lok Sabha

The Ministry of Education notified the Lok Sabha on Monday that since the National Testing Agency (NTA) was established in 2018, at least 16 exams had been postponed for various dates.

The COVID epidemic, administrative, logistical, and technological problems were among the causes of the postponement.

State Minister for Education Sukanta Majumdar provided the details in answer to a written inquiry from DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi in the Lok Sabha.

NTA was established in 2018 and has successfully administered more than 240 exams to more than 5.4 crore pupils.

"Since most of the examinations conducted by NTA are held in multiple-subjects, multiple-shifts and span over a number of days, there have been instances due to unforeseen circumstances like COVID pandemic, logistical and technical issues, administrative issues, legal orders etc, when examination dates initially notified in respect of specific subjects or shifts could not be adhered to," said the minister.

The COVID pandemic caused the postponement of four exams: JEE-Main (2020), NEET-UG (2020), JEE-Main (2021), and NEET-UG (2021), according to the data supplied by the minister.

"COVID pandemic and logistical challenges" caused the postponement of the following: CSIR UGC-NET (2020), UGC-NET (December, 2020), UGC-NET (May, 2021), and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) AIEEA (2020).

The COVID-19 epidemic caused Delhi University to halt the registration process, which resulted in the postponement of the Delhi University Entrance Test (DUET) 2020 for admission to UG, PG-MPhil, and PhD programs.

The AICTE's change of the examination structure resulted in the postponement of the Common Management Admission Test (CMAT)-2021.

The COVID pandemic caused the All India Ayush Post Graduate Entrance Test (AIAPGET) and Joint Integrated Programme in Management Admission Test (JIPMAT) of 2021 to be postponed.

Administrative delays caused the 2022 IGNOU PhD Entrance to be postponed.

The Graduate Aptitude Test Biotechnology (GAT-B) for 2023 has been rescheduled in accordance with regional biotechnology centre.

The National Common Entrance Test (NCET) and CSIR-NET were postponed in 2024 because of technical and logistical problems, respectively.

In order to better assist applicants, NTA has begun announcing the major examination calendar well in advance. The minister stated that the examination schedule is prepared with buffer days to allow for postponements and reschedules due to circumstances outside of NTA's control.