US-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) has announced that they will set up test centres for TOEFL and GRE in the Kashmir valley. The test centre will come up at Hashtag Educational Services, located at the Regal Chowk, Srinagar. The aim of setting up the test centres in a prime location is to offer easy accessibility to the test takers.
ETS is the nonprofit educational assessment, research and measurement organisation and the owner of assessments such as TOEFL and GRE.
According to ETS, this is the first time a global assessment organization has established a specific testing site in the area. Before this, Valley students would typically have to travel to Punjab to take the TOEFL or GRE. In order to provide test takers for the TOEFL and GRE with a flawless testing experience, ETS asserts that the center is outfitted with cutting-edge facilities and abides by strict test security measures.
“Following this development, ETS India plans to further invest in partnering with agents and educational institutions in the Kashmir region, to support local students in their study abroad journeys,” the official statement read.
According to Sachin Jain, Country Manager, ETS India and South Asia, “We are excited to work with Hashtag Educational Services to establish a world-class testing center in Kashmir, also our first in the Valley, thereby enabling significantly easier access for study abroad aspirants.”
Meanwhile, ETS had recently introduced a few changes in and modifications to the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). According to the revised regulations, the TOEFL iBT test has been shortened by an hour now. To do so, the test will now have a new, more modern ‘Writing for an Academic Discussion’ task, which will replace the previous independent writing task. The reading section has also been shortened and all unscored test questions have also been removed. Additionally, the registration process has also been simplified. One of the biggest changes being brought in is that the test takers will see now be able to see their official score release date upon completion of the test, in addition to receiving real-time notification of changes to their score status.