On August 17, All India Students’ Association (AISA) held a protest at the headquarters of the National Testing Agency (NTA), demanding an end to the systemic mismanagement, irregularities and privatisation of India’s examination system. Several left and progressive student organisations also took part in the protest.
AISA said that genuine reform of examinations cannot be achieved through cosmetic changes within the NTA and demanded its complete abolition and the restoration of examination systems under transparent, accountable and publicly controlled institutions.
When students and youth gathered outside the NTA headquarters demanding an end to the NTA regime and its continuing record of paper leaks and examination irregularities, police detained protesting students.
Condemning the detention, AISA said that the repression of protesting students follows the same model witnessed during the anti-paper leak movement in Delhi. The organisation said the BJP government has completely failed to address the problems faced by students as a result of the deepening crisis in the education system.
The latest incident of irregularity surrounding the June 2026 UGC-NET examination is another example of the crisis created by the NTA model. During the June examination, multiple reports emerged of irregularities in the Sociology paper, including the circulation of a PDF purportedly containing questions and answers from within the NTA system. Serious concerns were also raised regarding the English paper, where a majority of questions were reported to have been reproduced from the 2024 examination.
The NTA released the answer key only on August 16, nearly two months after the examination, while issuing a special notice concerning the Sociology, Commerce and English papers. Later the same evening, the NTA announced that these three examinations would be conducted again in September, citing factual, typographical, translation and grammatical errors.
AISA said the decision has further compounded the crisis for students. The prolonged delay in NET results has already affected PhD admissions across universities, while students are now being forced to prepare for re-examinations with barely two weeks of effective preparation time. Students are being made to pay the price for an examination system that is dishonest, opaque and completely lacking in democratic accountability.
Aameen, a PhD scholar who was on hunger strike for 23 days during the NEET movement in Delhi, said, “There is no respect for doctors in this country, be it NET or NEET, academic or medical. The critical thinking of youth and their lives are being endangered time and again by the government.”
AISA demanded the complete abolition of the NTA and said the Modi government must take responsibility for the agency’s failures. It demanded that no student be made to suffer because of administrative and systemic incompetence.
The organisation also demanded a time-bound and independent investigation into the reported examination irregularities and alleged leaks, along with immediate clarity on results, admissions and the re-conducted examinations.
AISA reiterated that students will not accept being punished for the failures of the NTA. The organisation will continue to mobilise students against examination-related irregularities and demand a complete overhaul of the country’s examination system.
