Insight: action needed to groom new generation of school principals

Over the past decade, many Hong Kong schools have seen leadership changes and the trend is continuing as more principals approach retirement age. There has been a dearth of competent people to fill the posts vacated; although there are enough applicants to go through the necessary principal certification process, character and experience seem to be in short supply.

Those who have landed the job have faced immediate challenges as they have become enmeshed in the intensifying school reforms.

Their inexperience may have a negative impact on the current reforms and the quality of school education because the principal is deemed the prime mover when it comes to implementing change and innovation at a school.

In the longer term, there is a worry that there will even be fewer choices of suitable candidates as experienced and potentially more qualified vice-principals are shying away from taking up the job of principal.

The Hong Kong Association of Deputy Principals conducted a survey among its peers about aspirations to become principals.

More than 80 per cent of those polled expressed an unwillingness to become a principal for two main reasons. Firstly, they felt the burden a principal must carry is unbearable; and secondly, there is little knowledge of exactly what the job involves.