According to the Chief Ex­ecutive Officer of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Hayford Attah Krufi, who gave the advice during a de­bate to close this year’s National Pensions Awareness Week Cele­bration, the youth should not wait until they were employed before they took keen interest in pension.

He said the Pensions Act allowed persons at the age of 15 years either employed or unem­ployed to register for pension, adding that the tier-three of the pension scheme was voluntary and any person above the age of 15 could enroll on it.

Mr Krufi said both the em­ployed and the unemployed could enroll with the tier-three as the contribution to that scheme was not strictly monthly and not fixed and as a result, the youth could sign on the tier-three pension even while in school.

The debate was held between the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) and the University of Ghana which had three debaters from each side which debated on the topic “The new Pension Act, Act 766 has made retirement savings accessi­ble to all Ghanaians.”

There was a tie in the debate which the UPSA spoke for the motion while University of Gha­na spoke against the motion.

Each of the universities which participated in the debate was presented with a plaque and the participating students presented with a medal, certificate and an undisclosed amount.

In addition, the CEO of NPRA enrolled the six participating students from the two institutions onto a tier-three pension of their choice and paid the first premium.

Mr Krufi said the youth needed to be exposed to pension to help them appreciate the importance and benefits of it to ensure the sustainability of the pension industry.

The Head of Communications of NPRA, Nana Sifa Twum, said the programme was meant to “Create awareness and catch the youth and the students young.”

He entreated the Ghana Ed­ucation Service to incorporate pension in the country’s education curriculum to educate the young ones and whip up their interest in pension as was done in the devel­oped economies.

A student of UPSA, Kelvin Acquah Ofosu, who was the lead debater for UPSA, who spoke on behalf of his team, said they were excited to join the debate and commended the NPRA for organ­ising the debate.

He said the programme had enhanced their knowledge on pensions and exposed them to the importance and benefits of pension.

The lead debater of the Uni­versity of Ghana, Erasmus Elorm Agbo, lauded the NPRA for organising the programme.

He advised students to take interest in pension issues and enroll onto the third-tier which was voluntary.