AS parents and teachers eagerly await the release of a key blueprint for educational reforms in a month's time, little public attention has so far focused on the likely effect upon school principals.
Even before details are released of the proposed comprehensive reforms, which will cover both the primary and secondary sectors, the Education Department is already inclining towards giving schools more decision-making power, so making principals a key force in the changes in their schools.
Continual support and training for the SAR's overworked principals has become more important in this new era of curriculum changes and more broadly-based education.
Enter long-time Australian educator Bruce Davis, who has just finished a stint at the department, with the mission of devising a framework for training the SAR's principals.
The mild-mannered 59-year-old came to Hong Kong last September, after retiring from the Australian Principals Centre in Melbourne. On his last day of work at the Education Department last week, he spoke with sympathy about the increased pressure principals are bound to face in the years ahead.
'School principals need to have a really good understanding of how to handle change. I don't think that's a skill they needed six years ago,' said Mr Davis, expressing sympathy for the heavy workload faced by principals and teachers working in crammed environments here.