ISLAMABAD: Taking notice of the reports of leaking of question papers in National Testing Service’s examinations and alleged irregularities in the institution, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman retired Justice Javed Iqbal on Friday ordered an inquiry into NTS affairs.

NTS Chief Executive Officer Dr Sherzada Khan, however, ruled out the possibility of any irregularity and flaw in the testing system of his organisation.

According to a NAB spokesperson, the bureau has started inquiry into alleged irregularities in the NTS.

He said the NAB chairman was of the view that no organisation would be allowed to indulge in any sort of non-transparency and violation of merit. The chairman was quoted as saying: “NAB will ensure safeguarding students’ interests and will not allow wasting of their hard work.”

National Testing Service head rules out any flaw in system

The chairman said NAB had received a number of complaints against the NTS which had been clubbed to investigate the matter. He said there were reports of a number of incidents in which NTS papers were leaked, adding that if such incidents were taking place, they were suppressing the rights of bright students. “It is also being investigated that whether the NTS is authorised to take re-tests once its paper is leaked,” the NAB chairman was quoted as saying.

The spokesperson said the NAB chairman wanted the NTS to ensure that its recommendations were made in a transparent manner so that interests of bright students could be safeguarded.

The NTS was mandated in 2007 to administer academic performance evaluation tests for students seeking admissions to education institutions, especially universities. Later, the organisation’s services were also acquired for hiring in government departments.

The previous government of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) followed the NTS system for induction into government departments making it mandatory for the candidates to first pass the NTS examination before sitting in interview tests by the relevant department. But not all government departments were following that formula of induction during the PPP regime.

The present government has made it mandatory for all institutions to hire people who have passed both NTS examination and its own interview test. Now candidates for any vacant positions in government institutions have to first pass a 100-mark NTS examination and then an interview test by the relevant institution.

Meanwhile, NTS CEO Dr Sherzada Khan said in a statement on Friday that his organisation had a secure and foolproof examination system in which leaking of papers was impossible.

However, he welcomed the decision of the NAB chairman to conduct an inquiry into alleged leaking of papers in the NTS.

He claimed that no complaint had ever been filed against the NTS which authenticated the credibility of the organisation. “The NTS will fully cooperate with NAB in investigating the matter,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2017