ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly standing committee on science and technology on Tuesday expressed concerns over the absence of any checks and balances on the functions of the National Testing Service (NTS).

Committee chairman Tariq Bashir Cheema of the PML-N directed the Ministry of Science and Technology to draft a bill to establish a regulatory body in order to monitor the working and performance of the NTS and other testing services in the country.

The recommendation to draft the bill was proposed by PTI lawmaker Ali Mohammad Khan and adopted by the committee unanimously. The committee met at Comsats Institute of Information Technology campus to deliberate on how to improve services offered by the NTS.

In the past meetings, the committee members had recommended the NTS management to ease the burden of fees on students, especially to facilitate those from the poor backgrounds. They believed that NTS had made it harder for students by charging fees again and again for every position advertised.

Members express concern over absence of checks and balances in NTS operations

The members had also demanded that NTS should announce results of the tests in a more transparent manner.

NTS is a private organisation which administers academic performance evaluation tests. It offers two types of tests: the national aptitude test (NAT) and the graduate assessment test (GAT). Recognised by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), NTS was developed to ensure quality educational standards in the country.

In his briefing on compliance to the recommendations of the members of the parliament, Rector Comsats Institute of Information Technology Dr S.M. Junaid Zaidi explained how a system was being developed to ease the burden of fees on the students.

He also explained how the NTS was seeking tax exemption from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and a solution was being worked out.

“The NTS building is also near completion. This will bring operational costs down significantly and its benefits will be passed on to the students. NTS tests will be conducted at provincial and federal levels and would be valid for a minimum of six months so that unemployed students can save money,” he added.

He assured the committee members that fees would be minimised and students would be charged once instead of asking them for each post advertised.

Responding to questions from the members about transparency of the service, Mr Zaidi said following the recommendations of the members, the results of each test were uploaded on the website as well as handed over to the departments concerned.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2016