As part of efforts to expand membership and help Ghana’s younger generation gain an understanding of pension-related issues, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), in collaboration with Ghana Education Service, GES, has launched Supplementary Readers on social security for high schools.
The books, developed by SSNIT in partnership with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA), will provide holistic training for students and inculcate in them social security values as they grow to form the country’s workforce.
At a ceremony to launch the Supplementary Readers on Social Security for High Schools in Kumasi, the Director-General of SSNIT, Dr. Ofori-Tenkorang, said in spite of the benefits the SSNIT Scheme provides, membership is relatively low.
He attributed this to “a general lack of understanding about social security, the laws governing it and the value it provides”.
He explained that if earlier generations had the opportunity of being introduced to the benefits of a structured social security system, many more people would have understood the importance of pensions, and the membership of the National Basic Social Security Scheme would have been more than the current 1.7 million.
He said, “That is why you are very lucky to have this subject [social security] introduced to you through your school curriculum at this early stage of your lives to offer you a roadmap and a preview into your work journey and equip you with the right tools to plan ahead”.
A Deputy Minister of Education, Rev.John Ntim Fordjour, who represented the sector minister, lauded the initiative and said “It is a good thing that an important topic such as social security is now part of the new Common Core Curriculum for schools because these young students are the would-be employers and employees of our nation in the not so distant future”.
He further stated that “SSNIT has since its establishment played a significant role in educating the youth of our country through the provision of schools, hostels, and funding of tertiary education through the students’ loan scheme. We must appreciate the efforts made by SSNIT and the support it has provided to the various sectors of the economy, but most importantly the provision of regular monthly pension to the about 227,000 pensioners”.
The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT or the Trust) is a statutory public institution charged under the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766 as amended by Act 883) with the administration of Ghana’s Basic National Social Security Scheme. Its mandate is to cater to the First Tier of the Three-Tier Pension Scheme.
Currently, the Trust is the largest non-bank financial institution in Ghana. The SSNIT Pension Scheme has an active membership of over 1.7 million.
In February 2022, the Trust paid a total of GH¢273.63 million to some 226,791 pensioners.
The highest pension earner receives GH¢142,564.97 per month, while the lowest-earning pensioner gets GH¢300.00.