Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Education, Ben Phiri, on Saturday commended the National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) for introducing an online application system for the selection of students to public universities.
Phiri, who is also a member of Parliament for Thyolo Central Constituency, said the introduction of the online application system will ease the process students used to undergo to secure places in public universities.
Phiri made the sentiments during an interface with NCHE representatives. NCHE organized the interface to brief parliamentarians on the progress it has made.
Phiri explained that NCHE is responsible for the selection of students to universities, but in the past, parliamentarians and the community had many questions without answers as to why some candidates with good scores were not selected.
“This is the computer system that has been programmed, and according to the demonstrations that have been given to us, it’s a brilliant system and can’t be manipulated easily, so we are sure that a computer is very intelligent and you can manage it better than an individual,” said Phiri.
NCHE Chairperson Beatrice Mtimuni concurred with Phiri, saying that the online application system is the way to go because they have experienced constraints in the past where candidates who scored 14 points or less were not selected.
She added that the online system would help candidates choose the right program for which they qualify.
As part of the process, NCHE will organize sensitization clinics in designated secondary schools across the country to educate candidates on how the online system works.