THE Higher Education Loans and Scholarship Board (HELSB) has Commissioned the first phase of the higher education student finance management system.
HELSB Chief Executive Officer Ireen Chirwa said the system would enable new students initiate the registration process and submit the required details online.
“We are starting the online screening process with first year students at Mulungushi University because they are the first to open for the 2022/2023 academic year.
Desk Officers for different universities will screen the students online after they have done their part,” Ms Chirwa said during a Commissioning ceremony in Lusaka on Friday.
She said before the system, HELSB would award the student loans and wait for the team to travel to the universities to screen students manually.
The process, Ms Chirwa explained, would take three to five weeks.
“With the new system in place, the screening process has been digitalised. Key benefits include; no more long queues for purposes of screening students, data accuracy and transparency. Students can initiate and complete the registration process from the place and time of their choice. It is a paperless process,” she said.
Ms Chirwa said the system’s second phase would go on stream soon and will include digitalising additional processes such as new loan application submission using the system, awarding of student loans and returning student registration, among other features.
She said the third phase would focus on digitalisation of scholarship administration process.
