Blantyre, May 31, Mana: National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) says they are pleased with the just ended 2022/2023 hundred percent online university selection application process saying the process has made the number of applicants to grow.
Speaking in an interview on Wednesday, NCHE Chief Executive Officer Dr. Ambumulire Phiri said the introduction of the 100 percent online application this year was aimed at ensuring that applicants should apply anytime where they are.
“NCHE has made commendable progress in working with the Public Universities to harmonise selection since 2014/2015 and this includes the introduction of partial online application in 2018/2019 and this year, we implemented a 100% online process. Previously applicants could use both ways to apply but now it’s strictly online.
“In collaboration with the Public Universities, we are processing the data. However, we are very hopeful that this year there has been an increase in the number of applicants. The ease of the process, the effective information dissemination and the increase in number of qualifying candidates may have contributed,” said Phiri.
She said despite the positive strides, the application process system encountered hurdles to do with how applicants interacted with the system as some candidates forgot their passwords while some attempted to create multiple accounts adding that all candidates affected by these challenges were assisted to complete their applications.
Commenting on the issue, education expert, Limbani Nsapato hailed the online application system but worried that some deserving students especially from rural and remote areas might have been left out due to challenges in access to technology, electricity, high data bundle prices and slow internet.
“We stand to see what will be the final outcome, but basically as a country, we have a lot of limitations with online processes, so we just wish that NCHE should be on the lookout in case there are issues they should find ways of accommodating those problems faced by some students.”
NCHE opened the call for applications for the 2022/23 selection to Public Universities on 3rd April 2023 and was scheduled to close on May 26, 2023, but the due date was extended to May 26, 2023, to accommodate individuals who may have experienced time constraints or faced challenges during the initial application period.
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