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NewsDay

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Mangudya releases first Brail Monetary Policy

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RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya has released the first ever Braille version of the Monetary Policy Statement in a move that was welcomed by people living with disabilities who were often disenfranchised in public information dissemination.

RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya has released the first ever Braille version of the Monetary Policy Statement in a move that was welcomed by people living with disabilities who were often disenfranchised in public information dissemination.

BY PHILLIP CHIDAVAENZI

The production in Braille of the January 2015 Monetary Policy Statement titled Rebalancing the Economy through Competitiveness, Productivity and Compliance followed a special request made by Progress Teachers Union (PTUZ)’s secretary for teachers with disabilities, Abiot Moyo.

The union’s secretary general Raymond Majongwe said Mangudya’s gesture demonstrated respect for society’s disadvantaged groups.

“We are very grateful to the Governor for the wonderful gesture which shows great respect for the needs of our disadvantaged members of our community,” he said.

“We would like to challenge many other institutions to follow suite and produce their policy documents, statements and even constitutions in Braille.”

Moyo told NewsDay on Friday that their wish as a union was to have a situation whereby every key document released by the RBZ would also be made available in Braille to cater for people with visual impairments.

“This is the first time in the history of the country that we have had a Monetary Policy Statement also availed in Braille,” he said.

“It also shows that the governor has an open door policy and considers the views of all stakeholders.”

Moyo, however, expressed concern that not enough has been done in the education sector to ensure that people with visual disabilities also had access to learning materials in Braille.

“It is our wish that this development would cascade down so that we also have more learning materials in Braille to cater for pupils with visual impairments,” he said.

Many people with disabilities did not perform well in their educational activities, according to Health and Child Care Secretary Dr Gerald Gwinji.

Dr Gwinji told guests at the official launch of the ‘Living Conditions Survey Key Findings’ last week that “people with disabilities have poorer health outcomes” and “lower educational achievements”.

The survey established, among other things, that fewer individuals with disability have ever attended formal education.