KOTA KINABALU: Every day for the past few years, pupils of SK Luagan in interior Keningau are welcomed by their teachers at the front gate, allowing pupils to give greetings to their teachers.
Automatically, pupils will also shake hands with anyone else at the gate including security guards as they enter, all out of respect to those older than them.
Recently, a 40-second video clip showing students shaking the hand of their security guard (or giving salam), believed to be uploaded by a parent, was shared on the Sabah Edition Facebook page.
The video can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/113233130105007/videos/647017999038846/.
These resulted in many netizens praising the children and teachers, as well as their parents for instilling such good manners and respect to others.
The video was shared more than a hundred times and viewed by at least hundreds of thousands of people since it was uploaded on Nov 7.
SK Luagan headmaster Junis Durulou @ Reddwan said the practice started when the school stationed a teacher a day on a rotation basis at the entry gates to welcome pupils.
"We tell our students that it is important to respect everyone, especially the elders, regardless of who they are," he said when contacted.
"What's more special is that students will also give greetings to the security guard there even when there's no teacher around," he said.
Junis said this is also part of the school's effort to live up to the Education Ministry's 'Guru Penyayang' (loving teachers) programme initiated about six years ago while instilling a sense of respect among pupils.
"We also want to thank all parents who work with us to help make this practice a success," he said.
There are a total of 750 preschool and Year One to Six pupils at the school.
