HRD Minister inaugurates 3400+ Test Practice Centres for entrance examinations for Higher Education across 622 Districts in the country

The Union Minister for HRD, Prakash Javadekar has inaugurated a network of more than 3,400 Test Practice Centres (TPCs) spread across the 622 Districts in the country. 25 Test Practice Centres (TPCs) joined Minister of HRD through Google Hangouts in this inauguration at New Delhi on Sunday. These test centres have been set up to facilitate students appearing in entrance examinations for Higher Education to hold practice sessions to enable them to get used to the changed mode and pattern of examination.

While interacting with Test Practice Centres (TPCs), the Union Minister said that the government is committed to providing quality education with equity, therefore we are launching Test Practice Centres across the country for those students who do not have computers and smartphones. Now no student will suffer due to lack of resources, the Minister added.

He further said that the government has changed the pattern of JEE (Mains) and UGC NET Examination from this year. Now it has become computer based instead of Pen and Paper mode. The new exam pattern is more Transparent, leak-proof, scientific, student-friendly and fast. In order to provide a facility for practice for the changed pattern, National Testing Agency (NTA) has established Test Practice Centres across the country.NTA has also launched a practice App through which students can practice on their own on their computers or on smartphones. This is the real revolution in the field of competitive examinations, the Minister explained.

While interacting with students, HRD Minister informed students that now students can access IIT PAL(Professor Assisted Learning) video lecture on SWAYAM Platform for the preparation of JEE. The HRD Minister received overwhelmed response from all 25Test Practice Centres. Students from various centres appreciated and thanked the government for this particular initiative. Secretary, Higher Education Shri R. Subrahmanyam and DG, NTA Shri Vineet Joshi were also present during the video conference.

In order to bring efficiency, transparency and qualitative difference in competitive examination process for Higher Education, MHRD has set up ‘National Testing Agency’ (NTA), (www.nta.ac.in) a premier testing organization, to conduct entrance Tests for higher educational Institutions. The NTA has been mandated to conduct JEE (Main), NEET (UG), UGC-NET, CMAT and GPAT examinations.

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NTA has established, a network of ‘Test Practice Centres’ (TPCs)across the country in about 622 Districts in 33 States/UTs, so that students of rural areas and others, get an opportunity to practice the Computer Based Test (CBT)before the exam. The TPCs will provide Mock Tests to the candidates of JEE (Main) and UGC-NETexaminations.

For setting up TPCs, the NTA has engaged a large number of schools and colleges, that have 30 or more Internet-connected PCs/laptops at one location. Depending on the demand, the TPCs function for one shift (02:30 PM – 05:30 PM) on all Saturdays and two shifts (11:00 AM – 02:00 PM, 02:30 PM – 05:30 PM) on Sundays. As on date, more than 3400 TPCs have been set up including 689 Kendriya Vidyalayas and 403 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas. State-wise number of TPCs and computers available for practice therein is as follows –

Sl. No	State/UT	No. of TPC Advertisement	No. of Districts where TPC is available	No. of computers
1	Sikkim	7	4	196
2	Andaman & Nicobar Island	8	2	230
3	Mizoram	9	7	301
4	Nagaland	9	7	417
5	Goa	11	2	586
6	Meghalaya	11	7	535
7	Tripura	12	5	549
8	Puducherry	15	4	1109
9	Manipur	17	10	618
10	Chandigarh	18	1	1243
11	Arunachal Pradesh	21	14	655
12	Himachal Pradesh	44	12	2325
13	Jammu & Kashmir	47	16	2296
14	Uttarakhand	76	13	4683
15	Assam	77	30	3862
16	Jharkhand	81	18	6788
17	Chhattisgarh	86	21	8067
18	Telangana	90	17	7230
19	Delhi	96	10	7793
20	Bihar	98	30	5439
21	Orissa	108	27	8672
22	Gujarat	109	28	7765
23	West Bengal	115	20	7509
24	Andhra Pradesh	122	13	14437
25	Haryana	122	22	7753
26	Punjab	144	22	17611
27	Karnataka	181	29	13679
28	Rajasthan	190	32	14494
29	Tamil Nadu	229	31	33646
30	Madhya Pradesh	241	49	24208
31	Kerala	318	14	19355
32	Maharashtra	325	36	23362
33	Uttar Pradesh	369	69	24935
Total		3406	622	272348

Any student can use the facility in TPC free of charge. For registration, students across the country can register themselves, online through NTA Website (https://www.nta.ac.in) or using ‘NTA Student App’ available on Play Store. They can offer their choice of TPCs near their location.

Students are communicated about the allotted TPC, 1 day before practice date through SMS. In the allotted TPC, they can practice and can experience the actual method of taking a CBT. Computer-Based Mock tests are provided to the candidates of JEE (Main) and UGC-NET, so that they can familiarize themselves with the logging process, going through detailed instructions regarding the test, using the mouse for attempting each question, navigating between questions, reviewing and editing their options and submitting questions as they would be required to do in the actual tests.

The TPCs are made operational based on the student demand. A trial run, of Mock Tests, was conducted on the 8^th & 9th September 2018, wherein 2,452 candidates practiced at 96 TPCs across the country and the candidates were provided instantaneous assessment & feedback on the Mock Test. About 2,000 candidates were scheduled for 15^th September in which 87 TPCs participated and about 3,000 candidates were scheduled for 16^th September in which 85 TPCs participated. State wise details are as follows –

The Mock Test is also available for students to study at home or anywhere, wherein so far, more than 55,000 candidates have taken online test from NTA website and more than 32,000 have downloaded the Mock test for practice in offline mode. The test can also be practiced on NTA Student App; so far more than 10,000 students have downloaded the App.

The “Mock Test” at NTA marks the beginning of complete ‘Computer Based Test (CBT)’, era.

Video Conferencing through Google Hangout was successfully held with HRD Minister and around 25 TPCs with 1993 students. State wise details are as follows –

Source – Press Information Bureau, Government of India