TELUPID, Nov 18 — Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Ulu Ansuan principal, George Odol, spent over three years staying in a school storeroom just to be able to carry out his duties in educating his pupils in the interior of Sabah.

The principal, who will be retiring on November 27, never regretted his decision to stay in such cramped quarters ever since being posted to the school in June 2020, and endured various hardships to ensure he could give his young pupils the best education possible.

He had to make do with the 2.74 metre (m) by 4.87m storeroom as the school was built without housing for the principal, even though it was located deep in the interior.

"I also have to share the kitchen and bathroom with the preschool class. It’s quite sad for a principal to stay like this for over three years. But what can we teachers do but sacrifice our comfort to venture into the interior for our pupils,” he said in a viral video he uploaded on TikTok that garnered over 68,000 views so far.

George, who is a Kadazandusun, also shared that teachers who had previously been posted to SK Ulu Ansuan, which is located around 230 kilometres from Kota Kinabalu, lived with the villagers in their homes initially and then later in modified classrooms.

The school’s Parents-Teachers Association did subsequently build two modest houses for teachers, he said, adding that at the end of his tenure, he had obtained approval to build a seven-door longhouse for teachers, but prioritised the needs of other teachers, and ended up living in the storeroom himself.

"Who else should we hope for to come here and teach these kids in schools in the interior if not us Kadazandusun teachers ourselves? This is what we sacrifice as we serve in the interior of Sabah,” he added. — Bernama