Insurers call for inclusion in school curriculum

Newton Jazire, the Managing Director of Lion Assurance has for the inclusion of insurance in the school curriculum to improve awareness of the importance of insurance among Ugandans.

"In Uganda, our school curriculum does not have insurance. We have people coming out of university who still do not appreciate the importance of insurance," he told the New Vision in an interview.

To the majority of Ugandans, insurance is a preserve for only the rich who can afford to spend money on such a ‘luxury'.

Such perceptions are one of the reasons why Uganda has one of the lowest insurance uptake levels in the world, with penetration below 1%.

Jazire argues that to change mind-sets of Ugandans towards insurance, efforts need to start from the grassroots, from schools.

"If insurance was included in the curriculum, then more people coming out of university would know the usefulness of insurance. Some students at university study about risk management and that is just about it," he said.

"We are seeing more and more Ugandans acquiring property. So they need insurance to cushion them against some of the risks involved in owning property. In the developed world, you cannot do much without insurance" Jazire added.