Koforidua (E/R), July 20, GNA- Mr. Isaac Owusu Agyeman, Headmaster of Salvation Army Senior High School-Akyem Wenchi, has expressed concern about some parents’ refusal to renew their children’s National Health Insurance (NHIS) cards after they have expired.
“Before any student enters the campus, the NHIS card is checked at the entrance and sometimes they realise they have a few months to expire and such students are allowed to stay in the school thinking the parents would give them money for renewal when the time comes, but some parents refuse to do that,” he said.
However, “this places a burden on school administrators if a student with an expired NHIS card becomes ill and goes to the hospital, because the teacher must pay the student’s hospital bill,” he was speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency earlier this week.
He said authorities at the school have met parents on several occasions on the issue, but there was no progress on that score.
Sometimes the school would have to plead with hospital administrators because of the accumulated debt of students without an NHIS card, he said adding that, “And as I speak, the school now owes the Akyem Wenchi Clinic over 1000 Ghana cedis.”
According to him, the school also sometimes renews the NHIS cards of students to enable them to access health care services and appealed to parents to contribute their quota to the health of their children when they leave home for the boarding house, in order to reduce the financial burden on schools.
Mr. Agyeman’ said teachers have returned to the classroom after their union leaders called off the nationwide strike over the cost of living allowance.
The teachers called off their strike on July 18, 2022, following negotiations with the government, who finally agreed to pay an additional 15 per cent of their basic salary as Cost-of-Living Allowance.
GNA