The National Insurance Commission has launched a nationwide insurance literacy programme and training for personnel of the Ghana Prisons Service.

Under the annual training programme, all the 2000 prisons personnel who have been recruited into the Service will be trained on the basics and importance of insurance.

The first of the maiden training for the prisons personnel will be held between March 7-9, 2022, at the Ghana Prisons Training School in Accra,  under which 250 Prisons Cadet Officers and Recruits will undergo a two-day insurance training.

 Speaking at the launch held at the Ghana Prisons Headquarters in Accra yesterday, the Commissioner of Insurance, Dr Justice Yaw Ofori, said in October 2020, the NIC started an insurance literacy programme and training for personnel of the security agencies in the country.

He said it was the turn of the Ghana Prisons Service for the training and said “We are glad to be here this morning to launch the programme.”

Dr Ofori said the broad objective of the programme was to create insurance awareness and provide an avenue to develop the interest of the youth in the career of insurance.

“Providing insurance education for Cadet Officers and Recruits of the Ghana Prisons Service is one of the major steps the NIC is taking to ensure that insurance literacy reaches every nook and cranny of the country,” he said.

Dr Ofori said the beneficiaries of the programme would be taken through the basics and rudiments as well as the benefits of insurance.

The Commissioner of Insurance said prisons personnel went through a lot of risks and it was important they were taken through the training for them to appreciate the importance of insurance.

The Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Isaac Kofi Egyir, said the NIC some few months ago approached the Ghana Prisons Service to provide insurance training for personnel of the service.

“This advocacy drive is highly welcome not only at a time when insurance has become a part of every aspect of our lives but also during a period when we have a large number of new entrants into the service,” he said.

The Director-General stressed that an “Informed appreciation of insurance will help, to a large extent, every prison officer to mitigate the effects of some of the life mishaps.  Working with such information, we believe, will benefit not only officer but their families and the people they supervise.”

Mr Egyir said certificates would be given to all the beneficiaries of the training, after a short test.

The Director-General commended the efforts of the NIC to educate prisons personnel on the essence of insurance and said the Ghana Prisons Service look forward for more such collaborations.

The Director of the Ghana Insurance College, Mr Richard Okyere said the beneficiaries would be taken through the basics of insurance, importance of insurance and the types of insurance.