I REFER to the article, 'Time to relook appraisal system for schools?' (The New Paper, 15 Jan).

With the beginning of a new school term, principals are seen as key figures, busy with work to make sure that things are in place. Hence, it is important that we have a well-respected principal to work with.

Here's my personal experience with a principal. When asked what she would do if she found out a student had accused a teacher wrongly, she replied that she would do nothing and leave it to the parents.

I was shocked to know that those were the words of an educator. I would expect her to tell the child what her mistake was and to get her to apologise to the teacher.

There is also the case mentioned in your article, 'Teacher's hair burnt in class' (The New Paper, 5 May, 2004).

When interviewed, the principal of the secondary school made no mention about what remedies or disciplinary action would be taken for the Sec 2 student. Instead, the principal approved her withdrawal from school.

All these have led me to conclude that there are principals who are protective of their rice bowls.

There are double standards in the treatment of teachers and students when they do something wrong, leading to many cases of students getting bolder in wrongly accusing their teachers.

I hope the Education Ministry could consider an annual course where principals could come together to share and learn how to have a good working relationship with their staff.

Such courses would be able to provide an insight into how successful companies/schools have handled their staff welfare, and motivated their staff to give their best.

Also, it would be good that principals be given either an EM3 or lower-end EM3 class to teach, even if it is a remedial class, to allow them to have a feel of what it is like to handle the less-motivated students.