Tough questions don’t make a good exam

TOI INTERVIEW

Tough questions don’t make a good exam

28.03.2021 

The National Testing Agency has revamped the conduct of some of India’s biggest exams. Its DG Vineet Joshi tells Manash Gohain of the initiatives it will implement under the NEP. Excerpts from the interview:

What are the pros and cons of computer-based models?

A: The biggest advantage of the computer-based test is the candidate has the freedom and the flexibility to change their answers. Many a times a candidate feels he or she has not been given the full three hours because somebody might say that the paper was given late, or it was collected early. On a computer-based test you can check the clock on the computer to confirm you have got the full three hours.

In a computer-based test, since the logistics involved are lesser, we can organise it in many cities. Also since we are able to declare results faster, we are also able to conduct some exams twice a year.

How does NTA ensure the same difficulty level, errorfree translation and normalisation process for exams written multiple times over multiple sessions?

A: We ensure that every group appearing in one shift are of similar type and that is decided randomly. We ensure that the male to female ratio, the ratio between various categories, the ratio of candidates appearing from across different states is similar. After that, if there was any difference in the difficulty level, we equate these different candidates on the basis of percentile, and then we decide the rank.

What are the initiatives NTA will implement under the new education policy (NEP)?

A: As far as NTA’s role in improvement in entrance examinations is concerned, the policy says that there will be one examination which will be conducted for admission to higher educational institutions. It will consist of two parts -- the aptitude test and the subject test. This can be voluntarily undertaken by all the universities across the country so that it reduces the burden on the candidate. What we have been told by the ministry of education is for the upcoming academic session (2021-22), if everything goes fine, the admission to higher educational institutions, especially in the central universities, could happen through one entrance examination. Things are still under discussion, and a final decision needs to be taken.

What has been the biggest challenge the NTA faced?

A: To change the mindset of the question paper-setters. The same goes for people who are taking the tests. In India, what is generally accepted is that a difficult question paper is a better question paper. And that candidates who are doing well, are better. But difficulty does not mean you created a test of a higher level. Difficulty could be challenging a candidate by maintaining the same level at which he or she is studying, while making it interesting, more application-oriented, bringing three four concepts together.

Unfortunately, what we have been doing so far in most of our exams is that we raised the difficulty level. This leads to candidates getting frustrated. They do not take much interest in whatever they are learning inside the classroom and they also feel that whatever is being learned inside the classroom is useless.

NTA has emerged as one of the largest exam conducting bodies globally. Can it match global standards?

A: We are already conducting a very big competitive examination at a pan-India level. Though in terms of numbers you will say that it's China's Gaokao (the country’s national college entrance examination) is the largest exams with about one crore plus candidates. But it is conducted only in a few languages. For NEET, we have conducted it for 16 lakh candidates in 11 languages. So, doing such a big examination in these many languages is the first of its kind globally. With our following the best practices of the world, which are there in terms of ensuring validity and the reliability we are on the path to becoming one of the best exam conducting agencies in the world.