Some Senior High Schools in the Upper East Region are turning away qualified students because they don\u2019t have National Health Insurance cards.<\/p>\n
Some of the schools include Saint John\u2019s Integrated, Zemsi and Navrongo Senior High School.<\/p>\n
According to some of the anxious\u00a0students, the situation has forced them to sometimes sleep at the Bolgatanga Municipal Health Insurance office to obtain the cards.<\/p>\n
Some of them who spoke to Citi News<\/strong> say the registration process is getting very tedious by the day.<\/p>\n According to them, it takes more than two to three days to acquire the card.\u00a0They have thus\u00a0appealed to authorities to put in place measures to fast track the process.<\/p>\n A student lamenting to\u00a0Citi News<\/strong>\u00a0said \u201cI came here on November 2, till date I haven\u2019t had a card yet.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of them alleged that persons with cars and motorbikes are usually given preferential treatment.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they come, they just direct them straight and facilitate the process for them, but those of us here join a long queue. We are appealing that students should be considered because when we go to school, they will sack us and such things will affect our education\u201d a female student lamented.<\/p>\n Another student said “I came here yesterday [Wednesday], but couldn\u2019t get the card. Today [Thursday] \u00a0I came earlier but I\u2019m still not sure whether I will get my card .\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI came here very early at\u00a0dawn, collected my form and joined the queue; but till now, \u00a0I\u2019ve not yet had my card. I\u2019m not sure I will get it today\u201d said another student.<\/p>\n In an interview with Citi News<\/strong>, the NHIS Manager for the Bolgatanga Municipality, Mr. Ayinne Roland, advised residents to take advantage of their 24-hour services to avoid the struggle.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t made any arrangement for students. We are running a shift system. Those who say they have been here for three consecutive days are those who usually not patient enough to wait for the night shift. They take their forms to the house, come back the following day and repeat the same thing. Definitely, you will be counting days but those who are normally patient enough to wait throughout, they go home with their ID cards.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile the Ghana Education Service (GES) has condemned the practice of sending students back home because of NHIS cards.<\/p>\n According to the Public Relations Officer of GES, Rev. Jonathan Bettey, although the NHIS card is a requirement for every SHS student, students ought not to be sent back home for not having it.<\/p>\n He says the schools are to put in place proper arrangements to enable the students acquire the card without the process affecting their education or academic work.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Godwin A. Allotey & Frederick Awuni \/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n