The Commissioner of Insurance at the National Insurance Commission (NIC), Prof. Justice Ofori, has admonished Ghanaians to take insurance education seriously as it is the surest way to ensuring that people willingly purchase insurance and not cajoled into doing so.

According to him, insurance is a noble profession and understanding its importance could go a long way to disabuse the minds of skeptics who think it is an unprofitable venture.

“It is important that students especially at the second cycle institutions imbibe the culture of insurance in them and this is an initiative of the National Insurance Commission (NIC) which has culminated into the launch of a partnership with the Ghana Education Service (GES) in 2020.” He said.

Prof. Ofori added, “The partnership is with the view to provide insurance education in a ‘catch-them-young’ approach because when people are educated on insurance in their formative years, they appreciate it better when they start their working lives”, he disclosed.

The Commissioner of Insurance made these remarks at the launch of the Ashanti Regional edition of the National Insurance Quiz Competition for Senior High / Technical Schools.

The NIC, which is the insurance regulator seeks to use the quiz competitions to create awareness about Insurance to enable students at this level develop a culture in insurance as a way of life. This would also expose them to making career choices in insurance while advancing in their academic ladder.

The maiden edition of the competition was held at Sunyani for schools in the Bono and Ahafo Regions in 2022, with Sacred Heart SHS emerging as the winner.

The Sunyani success story has led to the scaling up of the competition to the Ashanti Region. Prof. Justice Ofori disclosed this would be replicated in the remaining Regions of the country.

Twelve selected schools in the Ashanti Region will battle it out for the bragging rights and the coveted trophy at the National level.

The Regional level competitions will see various winners compete at the national level to determine the eventual winner.

The twelve selected schools in the Ashanti Region to take part in the maiden Insurance Quiz Competition includes Prempeh College, Opoku Ware, St. Louis SHS, Yaa Asantewaa Girls, Osei Kyeretwie SHS and Islamic SHS. The rest are KNUST SHS, Kumasi Anglican SHS, T. I. AMASS, Uthmaniyya SHS, Pentecost SHS and Kumasi High School.

Winners at the regional levels will have the opportunity to compete at the national level competition when they emerge victorious.

Other dignitaries present at the launch were the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Dr. William Appiah Amankrah, the Ashanti Regional Manager of the NIC, Mr. Farouk Dramani and Heads of Institutions of the twelve selected schools.

In other developments, Prof. Justice Ofori commended the Ashanti Regional Police MTTD for supporting the NIC in the discharge of its core mandates. He made the commendations at a workshop he had with the Police MTTD.

He further engaged the Ashanti Regional Insurance Industry players and tasked them to constantly exhibit professionalism in ensuring insurance reaches out to the remotest parts of the Region. The Insurance Regulator, bemoaned the situation where some players had given the industry a bad name due to unacceptable treatment of policyholders leading to mistrust.

His working visit also coincided with the aftermath of the Kejetia market fire. He used the opportunity to educate traders to insure their properties and wares to avoid recurrence of loss of property in such incidents. He also admonished traders not to shy away from taking up insurance as it is the surest way to support their businesses whether small, medium-scale or large.