BOLGATANGA SHS RECEIVES PRIZE FOR WINNING NHIS QUIZ 31st July, 2018

The Bolgatanga Senior High School [Big Boss] in the Upper East Region, on Tuesday received its prize package from the Upper East Regional Directorate of the National Health Insurance Authority [NHIA] for emerging winners in a national quiz competition in 2016 dubbed “NHIS Brilliant Quiz Competition”.

The package included a cheque for 11,000.00 Ghana Cedis, a brand new 43-inch NASCO LED Television set and a trophy.

Upper East Regional Director of the NHIA Mr. Sebastian Alagpulinsa who presented the prize to the school’s authorities on its campus, said the cash component of the prize was to primarily assist the school execute any health-related project among other vital needs it may deem necessary. He revealed that Big Boss first won a regional competition from among its peers in 2016 and subsequently, proceeded to a zonal contest in Sunyani where it placed second.

He further disclosed that following its sterling performance, the school then represented the Northern Sector at the national quiz competition organised by the NHIA and eventually beat all other competing schools to become victors of the national event. He commended the students and their teachers for putting up a great intellectual team that made an indelible statement at the national event and indeed, brought home the ultimate prize.

Mr. Alagpulinsa recounted the rationale behind the quiz competition and disclosed that the NHIA had a broad corporate goal on information, education and communication and had over the years adopted a lot of communication strategies aimed at promoting the NHIS brand across Ghana. He explained that Management of the NHIA thus introduced the quiz competition as a more effective way of improving information dissemination to stakeholders in the Ghana Education Service and the general public as the media reported on the event through several platforms.

According to Mr. Alagpulinsa, the NHIA further plans to sustain publicity and project the NHIS as the best financing mechanism of providing access to basic quality health care in Ghana. To achieve this, he added “the NHIS within the next five years seeks to promote a sustained public education on the scheme for sustainability and also for achieving Universal Health Coverage by 2030”.

He said his outfit will among other efforts, create public awareness on all its programmes, projects and achievements as a way to secure public ownership of the scheme, provide clients with all requisite information about the NHIS and conduct regular stakeholders’ engagements to enhance participation.

Meanwhile, Headmaster of Big Boss Mr. Abaabu Afelibuiek who received the prize for his school, thanked management of the NHIA for finally delivering the winning prize package. He disclosed that after his students won the quiz competition on 13th November, 2016, they had since been waiting anxiously for the day to receive their prize and that it was a relishing feeling that it finally came.

The Headmaster showered praises on his teaching staff and students noting that, their combined efforts, hard work and their urge for excellence, culminated in the enviable win and good name they brought to the school. He thus charged them to keep up the good work.

Mr. Afelibuiek appealed to the NHIA regional directorate to give accreditation to a health facility serving the school in order to bring affordable health care services closer to the students as that would save them vital time for studies. He noted that the said facility had four qualified nurses with a senior nurse who could adequately cater for the health needs of the school’s population should the NHIA give the facility the needed cover and impetus to operate under the scheme. 

He observed that the current situation where students crossed the main Tamale-Bolgatanga highway to a community CHPS compound for health services wasn’t the best as they risked being down by vehicles. He also noted that, the students often waited in long queues with the general public for health care, a phenomenon that deprives them of productive classroom hours.