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The principal of Nan Chiau High has stepped down after admitting to hitting a female student with a soft-cover book. . In a letter to Today (See Page 8), the Ministry of Education (MOE) said Mr Ng Lee Huat had offered to step down as head of the school and that it had accepted his offer, which takes effect today. . This came as the MOE was conducting investigations into a complaint that Mr Ng had hit a Secondary 2 student on April 15. . Today reported last Thursday that a police report had been lodged against the principal by the god-sister of one of five students who had witnessed the incident. All six had been called up by Mr Ng for questioning and a teacher was also present. . The MOE said Mr Ng would be "redeployed to a position where he can continue to contribute to education". . In the meantime, the cluster superintendent will oversee the school's management until a replacement principal is appointed. Said an MOE spokesperson: "Hitting a student, no matter how testing the circumstances of disciplining the student, cannot be condoned. This is an unacceptable action that is outside the guidelines governing corporal punishment in schools." . The five students were suspended for two weeks after the incident, while the girl who was hit was allowed back after an initial suspension. The others have since also gone back to school. . Speaking to Today, the mother of the girl who was hit said: "I was angry when I heard what happened, but I accepted Mr Ng's explanation when I went to his office last Thursday and he apologised. . "He said he did not hit her deliberately and had done it for her own good." . She only found out that Mr Ng was leaving when Today informed her yesterday and said she "didn't expect" it to end this way. . Her daughter