Ex-bureaucrats seek thorough, time-bound review of NTA, CBSE’s evaluation ecosystem
Ex-bureaucrats seek thorough, time-bound review of NTA, CBSE’s evaluation ecosystem
M.U.H
10/06/202628
New Delhi: Citing NEET-UG paper leak episode and chaotic implementation of the On Screen Marking (OSM) digital evaluation, a group of former civil servants on Wednesday sought a through, time-bound, and independent review of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the CBSE evaluation ecosystem.
In an open letter, they also sought strict, state of the art security and cryptographic protocols against question paper leaks and rigorous, third-party audits of all digital evaluation software be implemented before national rollouts.
“We write to express our deep anguish and outrage over the repeated, monumental failures in the conduct of national level examinations under the watch of the Union Ministry of Education. These systemic collapses have shattered the dreams and futures of millions of young Indians and severely eroded public trust in one of the most critical components of our democracy — the public education and merit system,” the letter said.
At stake is the integrity of India’s apex testing and evaluation bodies, which stand completely compromised, it said.
The recent NEET-UG (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test -Undergraduate) paper leak episode undermined the aspirations of over 23 lakh students who had spent years in rigorous preparation, said the letter written under the aegis of Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG).
“We are amazed that, every year, for several years, the same kind of flaws continue to occur in the NEET examination – that some candidates gain prior access to the exam paper through paper leaks, obviously as a result of bribes and chicanery,” it said.
Compounding the NEET crisis was the chaotic implementation of the new On Screen Marking digital evaluation for the CBSE Class 12 examinations, said the letter signed by 73 signatories.
The transition to this system was marred by frequent portal crashes, missing digital pages, mismatched answer sheets and erroneous marking, especially in the core STEM subjects (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics), it said.
The undue administrative haste in introducing this system led to an unprecedented drop in overall pass percentages and a sharp, inexplicable decline in top-tier scores compared to previous academic years, the letter said.
Former Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, ex-Health Secretary K Sujatha Rao, former Punjab Police chief Julio Ribeiro, ex-Election Commissioner Ashok lavasa and former Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung are among the signatories.
In a parliamentary democracy like India, elected representatives are ultimately accountable to the citizens of India, the letter said.
When lakhs of students and their families suffer immense mental agony and financial strain due to preventable lapses in high-stakes examinations — examinations that dictate livelihoods and social mobility — those at the helm cannot abdicate their constitutional duties and evade responsibility for avoidable lapses, it said.
The former bureaucrats urged Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan “resign forthwith from the Council of Ministers owning responsibility for the current mess in the Ministry of Education; alternatively, the Prime Minister should relieve him of his charge”.
They sought “a thorough, time-bound, and independent judicial or expert review of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the CBSE evaluation ecosystem be undertaken”.
Besides, a “strict, state of the art security and cryptographic protocols against question paper leaks and rigorous, third-party audits of all digital evaluation software be implemented before national rollouts”, the letter said.
Referring to OSM, the former bureaucrats said that some enterprising students, aided by ethical hackers, discovered major flaws in the online systems, including serious flaws in security.
After these major flaws came to public notice, the Union government removed/transferred the CBSE Chairman and Secretary, a case of too little too late, the letter said.
“This hid the deeper policy blind spots, lack of rigorous beta testing and oversight failures. We do not believe that the CBSE Chairman and Secretary alone could have been solely responsible for changing the tender conditions. There must have been some interest expressed from higher up,” it alleged.
The letter said that “they cannot hold only officials responsible” and cited four instances of Union Ministers resigning from their posts when major disasters occurred over the past seventy years.
“(a) 1956: Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned as Union Railways Minister after two railway accidents; (b) 1993: Madhavrao Scindia resigned as Union Civil Aviation Minister following an air crash at Delhi airport; (c) 1999: Nitish Kumar resigned as Union Railways Minister after a railway accident; (d) 2008: Shivraj Patil resigned as Union Home Minister after the Mumbai terror attacks. The same responsibility for the present lapses rests now on the Union Education Minister,” the letter reads.
The future of our nation depends entirely on the fairness, transparency, and integrity of its education system, it said, adding that any dilution of these standards is a direct betrayal of the right of all citizens to a dignified and secure future.
