By Peter Sibon
KUCHING, July 10: The late Datuk Seri Dr James Dawos Mamit’s vision for the Bidayuh to have at least one graduate in every family will carry on, to ensure the community’s progress is on par with other races.
Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) president Datu Ik Pahon Joyik said a symposium will be held next year to mark the 10th anniversary of the community taking stock of its socio-economic development through the association.
“We are following his vision, where he advocated the ‘one family, one graduate’ initiative, while he was president of DBNA.
“Now we are following through on this through our education bureau,” he told reporters after paying his last respect to the late Dawos at Stutong Indah here today.
In terms of research, Ik Pahon said Dawos has the intelligence over many people. DBNA will relook at what the former Mambong MP has done for the community and continue his agenda.
When asked on the progress of DBNA’s initiatives in the past decade, he explained that a proper survey will be carried out during the symposium.
“Apart from education, the symposium will also focus on land issue and multilingual education, as well as taking into account development under the 12th Malaysia Plan,” he said.
Ik Pahon, who is also acting deputy state secretary, pointed out that the community is serious in the education of its people through skills training.
“We are also focusing on technical training as we noted that many graduates are unemployed. We are lowering the level of target to include technical skills because the higher employability rate of graduates is the most important,” he continued. — DayakDaily
