Afua Kobi Ampem Senior High School has emerged as the winner of the Ashanti Regional edition of the National Health Insurance Authority’s (NHIA) inter-school quiz competition, beating Ibadur Rahman Academy SHS and Opoku Ware School.
The competition forms part of a nationwide public education initiative aimed at improving students’ understanding of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), including its benefits, entitlements and operations.
Organised under the auspices of NHIA Chief Executive, Dr Victor Asare Bampoe, the initiative involves 48 schools across the country.
Participating schools were provided with study materials and sensitisation to strengthen their knowledge of the scheme ahead of the regional contests.
Speaking on behalf of the NHIA head office in Accra, Acting Head of Corporate Affairs, Oswald Essuah-Mensah, said the initiative was intended to equip young people with the knowledge to understand and effectively use the scheme.
He explained that the sustainability of the NHIS depended on three key stakeholders: the scheme itself, healthcare providers and its members.
“The scheme survives on three legs. Basically, we have the scheme itself, we have our providers, and we have you as members,” he said.
Mr Essuah-Mensah encouraged the students to become ambassadors of the scheme by sharing information about its benefits with people in their communities.
Students highlight learning experience
Speaking on behalf of her teammates, Jacqueline Aygabeng of Afua Kobi Ampem SHS expressed excitement over their victory, describing the competition as challenging but rewarding.
“We don’t know how to express the joy, but it wasn’t an easy competition. At the end of the day, we give thanks to the Almighty God for being so good to us,” she said.
She said preparing for the contest had been challenging because the subject was relatively new to the team, but support from their patrons and fellow students helped them succeed.
“The moment of learning it and putting the points in our heads was quite tough because it came our way and we didn’t really have much knowledge about it,” she added.
Jacqueline said the competition had broadened her understanding of the NHIS and the benefits available to its members.
“I didn’t really know how much NHIS was putting into our healthcare until I joined this competition,” she said.
Sixteen winning schools are expected to progress to the zonal competitions, with successful contestants advancing to the grand finale in Accra.
Organisers say the initiative is expected to strengthen awareness of the NHIS among students and encourage them to share their knowledge with their families and communities.