In COVID-19 times such as these, it is prudent for parents and guardians to strongly consider education and life insurance policies to secure the long term educational future of their wards and children.
With the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo giving the green to reopen schools, parents and guardians, especially those financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, are in talks with school authorities for reliefs such as moratoriums and extended payment plans meanwhile the schools, desperate for funds, are unwilling to bend and are asking for payment of fees in full.
According to Chief Retail & Marketing Officer, Alliance Life Insurance, Jane Kitome, the need for education related insurance policies is very crucial now than ever urging parents and guardians to swiftly seek for educational insurance policies that will provide safety and security for their children’s education and future.
“It is better late than never, now is the next best time to buy an education policy after yesterday’s missed opportunity. Insurance is brought to take care of uncertain times and eventualities.
In these uncertain times of parents and guardians having to return their children to school, those parents with educational insurance policies can fall on their policy funds to enable them cater for school fees and other school suppliers, thus taking off their financial burdens,” she said.
She further reiterated that education is a key step in human development and Allianz Insurance has designated life policies to cater for this important aspect of life, indicating that their education policies provide two solutions: providing opportunities for parents to save towards their children’s education and protecting their savings against unforeseen occurrences like death and disability so that in case of such disasters, their children’s education will not be truncated.
“Parents and guardians should make enquiries about our comprehensive educational insurance product-Eduflex policy – and select the best sum assured that meets their financial needs. This product is intended to fill the gaps and meet the needs of the insuring public,” she added.
Deputy Commissioner of Insurance, Michael Kofi Andoh, commenting on the state of educational insurance indicated that educational insurance policies have been in existence for very long time in the country and are usually inclusive in life insurance policies but because public schools dominate at the basic level and it being free, motivation for such policies is low.
He added that now that even junior high school education is also free, the interest has further gone down and so it will take extra efforts in awareness creation to let the public see the need for such insurance.
“There is a big need for insurance awareness creation and educational policy is one of them. The NIC has therefore designed several awareness creation programmes for the public of which some are still ongoing and others to come on board soon. Insurers must also be innovative with products and bring on board policies that go beyond school fees payment to include facility user fees and stationery among others to entice parents into seeing the relevance and opt for it,” he emphasized.
