Accra, Jan. 18, GNA – Students at the second
cycle institutions would soon be exposed to basic insurance education to
inculcate in them fundamental principles of insurance and to enable them to
develop career choices.
The move is intended to also enhance awareness
creation among students, increase their knowledge and understanding on the
importance of insurance and promote a paradigm shift in career choices.
Mr Justice Yaw Ofori, the Commissioner of
Insurance, National Insurance Commission (NIC), speaking at the launch of the
Basic Insurance Education in Second Cycle Institutions in Accra, said educating
students at the early stages in life is very significant because it enlightens
them on basic concepts of insurance and provides indispensable tools for fulfilling
future life.
The programme is collaborative efforts
between the NIC, Finance Ministry, the Ghana Education Service and the
Insurance Awareness Coordinators Group.
The event, held under the theme: “Insurance
Awareness among Ghanaians: Setting the Fundamental Right,” brought together
students from the Greater Accra Region including Accra Girls and Accra
Technical Institute to learn at first hand the benefits of having an insurance
policy.
Mr Ofori said the NIC was implementing a
nationwide insurance education programme to ensure robust insurance penetration
with 1,500 police personnel in eight regions sensitised on the importance of
insurance to social life.
He described as woefully inadequate the
current two per cent insurance penetration rate to the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) and called for concerted efforts by all stakeholders to improve the
understanding of insurance among the populace.
Mr Sampson Aklugu, Director of Financial
Services Division, Ministry of Finance, who represented the Finance Minister,
Ken Ofori-Atta, said educating students on the importance of insurance provided
guidance for career choices.
He said insurance was a vehicle for
mobilising long-term funds for national development and enabled the nation to
be better organised and grow at a faster pace.
He said subscribing to an insurance policy
was a way of transferring individual risk to an insurance firm, saying that,
“Insurance is a risk management tool and social welfare for households”.
Mr Aklugu underscored the need to imbibe positive
cultural orientation of insurance in the younger generation so that they would
subscribe to insurance policies voluntarily in the future.
He said government would continue to
implement effective insurance education plan, noting that, Ghana was signatory
to the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATIA) that enabled investors that want
to do business in the country to receive
insurance cover from the ATIA upon duel assessment.
This, he said, promotes Foreign Direct
Investment and boosts the national economy for accelerated growth.
Dr Kwabena Bempah Tandoh, the Deputy
Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), lauded the move to
educate SHS students on basic principles of insurance saying the GES would work
closely with other relevant stakeholders to develop a comprehensive curriculum
on insurance in second cycle institutions.
Mr Wilson Tei, the Chairperson of the
Insurance Awareness Coordinators Group and Board Member of the Accra Academy,
expressed disquiet about the recent fire outbreak at the Accra Academy noting
that the School properties were not insured.
He explained that the money that would go
into rehabilitating the damaged school property would be huge.
Mr Tei was of the conviction that, if the
buildings had been insured, the cost of repairs would have been borne by the
insurance firm.
He called for concerted efforts by all
stakeholders to change the negative mindsets people have about insurance in
order to safeguard their future.
Ms Priscilla Mawufemor, a Form Three Student
of Accra Girls High School, told the GNA that, her presence at the event has
enhanced her knowledge and understanding on the relevance of insurance and
would advise her parents to subscribe to an insurance policy.
GNA