Legislators welcomed the provision of official deputy principal posts in primary schools, but questioned why it had taken the government so long to do so. 'This proposal will encourage more people to enter the [teaching] profession,' Democrat Yeung Sum said. 'I just wonder how it has come so late.'

Primary school leaders have long been petitioning for the posts, saying the duties have been taken up by senior staff who get only nominal financial rewards.

Deputy Secretary for Education Cheng Man-yiu attributed the delay in creating the posts to budgetary constraints.