New Delhi: With the inauguration of Test Practice Centres (TPC) by the Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar across the country, students in Odisha will get a chance to familiarise themselves with JEE (Main) and UGC NET patterns.
The HRD ministry has inaugurated around 3,400 TPCs across 622 districts in the country. The ministry has set up 108 TPCs with 8,672 computers in 27 districts of Odisha.
The HRD ministry said the test centres were opened to help students sitting in the entrance tests for higher studies adapt to the new computerised examination pattern.
The minister said the government is committed to providing equitable access to quality education. “So we are launching TPCs across the country for students who do not have computers and smart phones. Now no student will suffer due to lack of resources,” Javadekar said.
He said the government has changed the pattern of JEE (Main) and UGC NET examinations from this year. Now it is computer-based instead of the old pen and paper mode.
The HRD ministry has set up a National Testing Agency (NTA), (www.nta.ac.in) a testing organisation, to hold entrance tests to higher education institutions in order to bring in efficiency and transparency. The NTA has been mandated to conduct the JEE (Main), NEET (UG), UGC-NET, CMAT and GPAT examinations.
The minister said that NTA has established a network of TPCs across the country so that rural students and others can get the opportunity to practice the Computer Based Test (CBT) before the exam. The TPCs will hold practice tests for candidates of JEE (Main) and UGC-NET examinations.
The NTA has engaged a large number of schools and colleges to set up TPCs which function for one shift (2:30 pm – 5:30 pm) on Saturdays, and two shifts (11 am – 2 pm and 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm) on Sundays.
Any student can use the TPC facility for free. Students across the country can register themselves online through the NTA website (https://www.nta.ac.in) or using the ‘NTA Student App’ available on Google Play Store. They can choose the TPC near their location.
Students will be sent communications about the allotted TPC, a day before the practice test date via SMS. At the allotted TPC they can experience the actual method of taking a CBT.