KOTA KINABALU: The headmaster of Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Ulu Ansuan in Telupid, who had to live in the school's storeroom because there was no housing for the teachers, has shared the latest developments concerning the state of the teacher's living quarters in the school.
Through a video shared on Malaysia Mendidik's Facebook page, George Odol, who will be up for mandatory retirement on Nov 27, showed a row of teacher's living quarters that has just been upgraded. Some of the school's teachers have already moved into the quarters.
The row of teachers living quarters made up of seven units looked neat and clean compared to the original structure which only had five units with zinc walls.
It is understood that the original structure was a long house that was made into teachers living quarters when it was first built by some teachers, the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) and the local community because there were no living quarters for the school's teachers when the school was opened in 2000.
Previously, teachers who were posted to the school , which is located around 230 kilometres from Kota Kinabalu, lived with the villagers in their homes.
The school's Parents-Teachers Association subsequently built two modest houses for teachers, and according to George, 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.
In the video, he also explained that his previous video which he uploaded on TikTok had shed light on the situation and his experience for the past three years.
"I would like to state that the video which I uploaded last week was regarding the issue of housing for teachers at the school, especially the headmaster who had to live in the school's storeroom.
"For everyone's information, the statement that I made did not involve the last two months of my service at the school. I began my tenure as the school's headmaster when I reported for duty in June 2020 and I will end my stint at the school on Nov 27 which is just a few days away.
"To address the issue of teachers' housing at SK Ulu Ansuan, the Education Ministry has come up with both short term and long term plans.
"For the short term plan, the Education Ministry has allocated RM200,000 to renovate and upgrade the existing seven units of teachers' living quarters at the school which was completed yesterday and some teachers have already moved in," he said.
He referred to the RM200,000 allocation for the makeover and renovation channelled by the ministry for the existing teachers quarters that began in June and was completed this month.
In the same video, he also commented on the announcement made by the ministry a few days ago on the long term plans to upgrade the school, which includes plans to build another four units of teachers' quarters.
"For the long term plan, the Education Ministry has allocated RM12.5 million to build four more teachers living quarters here.
"This means the issue of teachers' quarters at SK Ulu Ansuan has been addressed," he said.