The Ghana Insurance Commission (NIC) has launched the Basic Insurance Education at the Second Cycle Institutions Initiative in collaboration with the Ghana Education as part of a strategic drive to increase Ghana’s insurance penetration rate. Commissioner of Insurance, Justice Yaw Ofori, explained "teaching insurance at the basic level will go a long way to expose our young ones to the importance of insurance as well as the various job opportunities available in the insurance industry." Chairman of the Insurance Awareness Coordinators Group, Wilson Tei, ascribed Ghana’s low insurance penetration rate to the country’s poor understanding of the importance of the sector to economic growth. With less than 3 per cent of Ghana’s population subscribing to an insurance package and close to none of the government-owned properties and public institutions insured, Mr Tei is disturbed the trend could cause the country much money in the medium to long term. Citing the recent fire disaster that ravaged sections of the Accra Academy Senior High School, Wilson Tei warns of some economic consequences if the government does not prioritize insurance. "It is with regret to note that Accra Academy is not insured. What this means is that instead of falling on the needed insurance cover to reconstruct the areas ravaged by fire, the government will now have to spend more in reconstruction", he stated. The GES-NIC/IACG Basic Insurance Education at the Second Cycle Institutions Initiative is the outcome of a series of engagements with the Ghana Education Service (GES) to promote a 2-hour education based on insurance. The objective of this educational drive is to create awareness about insurance and its benefits that would get to the nooks and crannies of the country through this "catching them young" approach.