Examinations Council of Zambia (ECZ) Chief Executive Director, Michael Chilala, says candidates will now be able to register online for examinations even without a birth record number or birth certificate, following new adjustments made to the online registration system. The media reports that speaking during a press briefing in Lusaka, Dr Chilala said the institution has made the birth record number optional to ensure no candidate is excluded due to lack of documentation. “The birth record number is not mandatory in this case because we do realise that at this point many candidates may not have the birth certificate available, “We will try to register without that birth record number so that candidates can still be captured in the system’’, he said.
He explained that the new system allows registration by selecting the school of choice, the ACTS subject options, and the preferred local language. Dr Chilala added that ECZ has also introduced a requirement for parent and guardian information, which will assist in verifying candidate details. “We are now collecting guardians and parent information because they need to be able to verify the candidate information, the subjects and all the details entered about their child,” he said.
Dr Chilala noted that once a guardian’s ID is entered, the system automatically retrieves their existing details, including name and phone number. “One can register without the email but of course the phone number, for many reasons we want that,” he said. Dr Chilala further revealed that candidates are now required to upload a photograph as part of the registration process, a feature he said enhances identification accuracy.
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He added that the new system successfully registers candidates even when some optional fields are left blank, a move aimed at accommodating those lacking certain documents. Dr Chilala said the updated online registration system has introduced several new features meant to improve accuracy, accessibility, and efficiency in the management of candidate data.
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