Daily Times

ISLAMAAD: Candidates appearing in various National Testing Service (NTS) exams have demanded a better mechanism to deal with errors.

The Punjab Education Department (PED) has announced thousands of vacant posts and has declared it mandatory for candidates to apply through NTS.

Daily Times talked to several students who were present at NTS headquarters located Sector I-8/2 Islamabad on Wednesday.

The candidates were there to rectify problems such as misspelled names, wrong CNIC numbers or father/guardian names on role number slips.

Most of them were from far-flung areas of the Punjab, including Dera Ghazi Khan, Mianwali, Jehlum, Attock, Chakwal, Khushab, Jhang, Sargodha, Joharabad, Bhakar, Multan, Lohdran and Muzaffargarh.

One of the visitors said that he was there for correction of his sister’s name that had been typed as Ishraq instead of Ishrat.

Another candidate, Fazal, said he had applied for the two positions. “NTS has allotted me two different centers: one in Rahim Yar Khan and the other in Bhawalnagar,” he said.

Beenash, another candidate, said that her test was going to be conducted on October 23. “They have misspelled my name on the roll number slip. I had no other option but to visit the NTS office. The helpline number given on their official website was not responding,” she said.

Another visitor, Farooq, said that his wife had applied for appearing in one of the NTS tests. “Her test centre should be in Mianwali district as per her domicile. However, it has been mentioned as Sahiwal on her roll number slip. I had to come all the way here to ask them to correct this mistake,” he said.

Waqas, a student from Maira Sharif, Rawalpindi, said that his name had been spelled as Waqar on the roll number slip issued to him.

Muhammad Shafiq, a government servant posted in Pindi Ghaib, Attock, said that he had applied for the post of assistant education officer (AEO). “I have not been issued a roll number slip till now. They have not mentioned any reason for this delay,” he said.

Tahir Ali, a government employee from Jehlum district, said that he had also not been issued a roll number slip. “The NTS staff has now told me that I should have submitted a no objection certificate (NOC) from my parent department along with the original application form,” he said.

He said NTS had not mentioned this objection on its website. “When I came here, their officials informed me about the details of the objection. Now, I will have to return to Jehlum to get the NoC and then come here again,” he said.

The aggrieved candidates said that NTS should have a better mechanism to rectify mistakes at local level.

They also complained that the NTS head office was located in a residential area of the city and outsiders found it difficult to locate it.

They also said that the NTS staff was not cooperative and some of them were even rude.

NTS has also declared it mandatory for applicants to appear in tests in their districts of domicile. This has caused hardship for people who are doing jobs in major cities, including Islamabad, but are from different areas.

The candidates said that NTS should set up regional centres across the country or at least in the major cities to resolve their basic problems. They also demanded that the NTS online system be improved.

NTS was set up in 2003 by COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) to act as an “education training and testing service centre”.

The CIIT registrar, Izhar Hussain, when contacted, refused to comment over the complaints of candidates.

NTS Media Deputy Director Shakeel Akhtar refused to acknowledge any NTS role in the problems facing the candidates. “NTS is not responsible for it. The candidates themselves made errors while filling up the application forms,” he said. He refused to elaborate further.

However, another official who introduced himself as media coordinator, Haider Ali, admitted some of the grounds for the errors. “There is always a possibility of human error. However, the media should also highlight the positive aspects of the NTS,” Ali said.