Prince Mired honours news anchor with visual impairment

AMMAN — HH Prince Mired, the president of the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (HCD), on Wednesday honoured Al Taj News anchorman Rashed Rababa, the first-ever news anchor with visual impairment in Jordan. 

The prince commended Al Taj’s initiative to recruit anchorperson with visual impairment. He said the effort could change public perceptions of persons with disabilities (PWD) and called on all media outlets to enhance people with disabilities’ representation. 

Rababa expressed thanks to Al Taj News. He highlighted the challenges he faces in using Braille to write the news and called for accommodations for job seekers with visual impairment to find opportunities that match their skills, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Head of Al Taj board of directors, Jihad Abu Baider highlighted the importance of including people with disabilities in work environments. 

He noted that Al Taj is going to launch a media project to be fully run by media figures with disabilities. 

Also on Wednesday, Prince Mired attended a signing ceremony held between the HCD and the Korea International Cooperation Agency to implement an “assessment of sign language and its use in teaching students in the primary and secondary stages in the Kingdom’s schools for hearing impaired students”.

The programme aims to enhance the quality of inclusive education for students with hearing impairment.

A work plan will be developed to improve sign language usage and the teaching system for hearing impaired students.

The prince said that the Jordanian Constitution guarantees citizens the right to equal education.

Lauding the Korean agency’s support, Prince Mired called for scaling up efforts to reach an education system that could accommodate diversity and ensure people with disabilities equal access to education, Petra added.