New Delhi: The government will set up National Testing Agency (NTA) which will act as a nodal agency to conduct, streamline and implement entrance examinations in the higher education system.  While presenting Union Budget 2017-18 Finance Minister Mr Arun Jaitley informed that after the National Testing Agency being established, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) will be relieved from conducting the national tests and focus on their core regulatory work.

During Union Budget 2017-18 presentation, the Finance Minister said that the UGC will be reformed with changing higher education practices. The colleges will be identified on accreditation and will be rewarded with autonomy. The Budget has emphasized on science education and curriculum design for making science & technology as a popular subject among students.

The Budget proposed that the newly launched Swayam platform, online education platform under MOOC (Massive open online course model), will be linked to DTH TV services. Through Swayam platform, students can access courses by best faculty, take test and access academic grades.

Two news AIIMS will be opened one in Gujarat and another in Jharkhand. Innovation fund will be created for secondary education which will enable ICT enabled transformation.

Mr Arun Jaitley informed that the government will initiate legislative reforms for labour reforms.

Here it can be mentioned that the rationale for setting up the NTA lies in ensuring that multiplicity of entrance examination leading to stress on the students is addressed in a comprehensive manner by formulating a uniform entrance examination for admissions in different branches of higher learning.