Jump to content

National Testing Service: Difference between revisions

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Line 9: Line 9:
==Criticism==
==Criticism==


NTS has sort to bring about a comparative standard over a national scale for [[Pakistan]] but at the same time an non-governmental organisation [[NGO]] with such a setup cannot & has not catered to the Pakistani Nation as we know it. NTS resources are restricted geographically & limited qualitatively. NTS does not have legal backing for some of its own sponsors & further more might not be able to protect itself from legal scrutiny in future. <ref>Entrance test by NTS declared unlawful (May 24, 2009) [http://www.interface.edu.pk/students/May/Entrance-test.asp]. As stated by interface - an educational consultancy. Accessed Mar 16, 2010.</ref>
NTS has sort to bring about a comparative standard over a national scale for [[Pakistan]] but at the same time an non-governmental organisation [[NGO]] with such a setup cannot & has not catered to the Pakistani Nation as we know it. NTS resources are restricted geographically and limited both quantitatively & qualitatively. NTS does not have legal backing for some of its own sponsors & further more might not be able to protect itself from legal scrutiny in future. <ref>Entrance test by NTS declared unlawful (May 24, 2009) [http://www.interface.edu.pk/students/May/Entrance-test.asp]. As stated by interface - an educational consultancy. Accessed Mar 16, 2010.</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 17:15, 16 March 2010

National Testing Service (NTS) is an NGO in Pakistan that conducts academic performance evaluation tests. It is similar to Educational Testing Service (ETS). NTS offers two main types of tests, the National Admission Test (NAT) and the Graduate Assessment Test (GAT). NAT is aimed at pre graduate students seeking admission in colleges / universities. GAT is aimed at graduates, seeking admission in higher education. NTS exams are also used to determine qualifications of students seeking advanced study abroad.[1]

NTS is a Member of the International Association for Educational Assessment, USA (IAEA). It is recognized by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC). The NTS was developed to ensure quality educational standards in Pakistan and to "provide a national scale for comparative grading between institutes",[2] consolidating examination boards under one administrating body.[3] According to Shahid Siddiqui, director of The Centre for Humanities and Social Sciences at the Lahore School of Economics, tests implemented prior to the development of the NTS were criticized as not accommodating socio-cultural differences, resulting in a need for "an indigenous testing service that should design and develop testing materials within an indigenous context".[4] Prominent Pakistani institutions like Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) and Center for Advanced Studies in Engineering (CASE) have made it compulsory for students seeking admission to have cleared tests conducted by NTS[5][6].

History

Controversy erupted in 2007 following the mandating of NTS testing, first announced by Khalid Maqbool, Governor of Punjab, with regards to admission to universities and later set aside by the government unless the laws regarding university admission were amended.[7] [8] Criticism included allegations that the services were inconvenient to access and prohibitively expensive to economically challenged students.[8][9] Maqbool called for input from the vice-chancellors of Punjab's public universities on 4 June.[10] That year, each university department was permitted to set its own entrance requirements, with six of 64 departments at Punjab University electing to utilize tests from NTS.[11][12] In October 2007, the vice-chancellor of Punjab University, Muhammad Arif Butt, endorsed the use of NTS testing in all departments of the university.[13] NTS director Dr. Haroon Rasheed said that no tuition centres are associated with the service and NTS exams will not be out of course. [14]

Criticism

NTS has sort to bring about a comparative standard over a national scale for Pakistan but at the same time an non-governmental organisation NGO with such a setup cannot & has not catered to the Pakistani Nation as we know it. NTS resources are restricted geographically and limited both quantitatively & qualitatively. NTS does not have legal backing for some of its own sponsors & further more might not be able to protect itself from legal scrutiny in future. [15]

References

  1. ^ Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Education. (May 2, 2006). Cuba to sponsor 1000 Pakistani students for medical studies. Ministry of Education, Pakistan; official website. Accessed January 10, 2008.
  2. ^ Atta-ur-Rahman, Federal Minister for Science and Technology. (September 8, 2001) IT – a great opportunity. Government of Sindh, official website. Accessed January 10, 2008.
  3. ^ Revolutionary steps get nod for educational regime. Pakistan Observer. (August 9, 2007) Accessed January 10, 2008.
  4. ^ Siddiqui, Shahid. (October 1, 2007). Assessing assessment. The International News. Accessed January 10, 2008.
  5. ^ CASE Admissions
  6. ^ BZU Admissions
  7. ^ Entry test of public universities through NTS: Governor Associated Press of Pakistan. Accessed January 10, 2008.
  8. ^ a b Khattak, Khalid. (May 28, 2007) To test or not to test—that is the question. Daily Times. Accessed January 10, 2008.
  9. ^ Punjab University Academic Staff Association(PUASA) slams entry tests Interface, Pakistan. Accessed January 10, 2008.
  10. ^ NTS still in dark about entrance test in Punjab. Interface, Pakistan. Accessed January 10, 2008.
  11. ^ 36 PU departments hold entry tests. Interface, Pakistan. Accessed January 10, 2008.
  12. ^ Admission controversies. Interface, Pakistan. Accessed January 10, 2008.
  13. ^ 'PU all for entrance test through NTS' Interface, Pakistan. Accessed January 10, 2008.
  14. ^ NTS exam will not be out of course. Daily Times, Accessed January 11, 2008.
  15. ^ Entrance test by NTS declared unlawful (May 24, 2009) [1]. As stated by interface - an educational consultancy. Accessed Mar 16, 2010.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Testing_Service&oldid=350234313"