The head of India’s National Testing Agency (NTA) has been sacked amid allegations of irregularities in recent higher education exams.
The government also appointed a committee to recommend reforms in a competitive process.
There have been calls for a rerun of medical entrance exams after thousands of candidates received unusually high scores, sparking protests over alleged cheating.
National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is the gateway to study medicine in India.
Millions of students take the exam every year, but only a small percentage score well enough to secure admission.
The results, released on June 4, mean even high scorers will struggle to do so.
Since then, the exam has come under scrutiny for reasons including paper errors, unjustified scores (compensated scores) and fraud.
Earlier this month, federal education minister Dharmendra Pradhan admitted that “some irregularities” had come to light.
NTA president Subodh Kumar Singh came under strong criticism and was sacked on Saturday.
Qualifying exams for PhD scholarships were also canceled after exam papers were leaked on the dark web.
Entrance exams for postgraduate medical degrees scheduled for Sunday have been postponed.
Opposition parties and student groups have been staging protests across the country against the missteps, putting pressure on the recently re-elected government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
