Pupils get black marks for standard of writing

FOUR out of five teachers believe that handwriting skills among their pupils is in decline because of the increasing use of computer technology, according to a new survey.

All of the 4,000 teachers questioned for the survey agreed that handwriting was still important and useful, with most saying schools should ensure that lessons in the skill are on timetables from an early age.

The findings of the UK-wide survey will underline concerns expressed by employers' organisations in Scotland that many children are leaving school without being able to write legibly. They have warned that poor legibility among text-obsessed and internet-mad teenagers could even lead to school leavers hampering their exam marks and getting worse jobs than they deserve.

But some experts argue that handwriting skills are not as necessary as they once were and that computer skills were just as, if not more, crucial in the modern age.

The survey was carried out by the pen firm Berol among thousands of teachers in primary and secondary schools across the UK. The majority (82 per cent) said they had noticed a deterioration in handwriting skills. The firm's spokeswoman Claire Dudley said: "We had a huge response to our survey, showing just how strongly many of them feel about the importance of handwriting today."

Business leaders said legible handwriting was still a key skill as many documents still cannot be filled in electronically.

The debate

• Elaine Quigley: YES… good handwriting is vital

• Rod Grant: NO… literacy is far more important

• Leader: The write stuff

Lauren McNicol, CBI Scotland policy executive, said: "As international competitiveness intensifies, it is more important than ever that the Scottish workforce should not continue to lag behind in terms of basic skills.

"Legibility of handwriting matters. There is a wide range of forms to be completed by hand in most organisations and in certain circumstances. Some of these are documents that may potentially be called in evidence in legal proceedings."

Graphologists say the style of handwriting that children are taught now is very different to previous decades. Up to the 1950s, children were taught to write in a flowing style based on the work of Marion Richardson, whose Writing And Writing Patterns dictated handwriting for decades, whereas the modern style is more rounded and more reflective of individual personality. Jan Harrison, a graphologist, said that whatever the style, perfect handwriting was not seen as being important these days.

She said: "It is definitely not seen to be important nowadays. We don't need to write as much as we used to before. However, I think we will never stop needing handwriting.

"I don't think teachers focus on penmanship as much as they used to do.We don't value penmanship, we are looking more for someone's individual personality in their handwriting."

As Scotland does not have a statutory curriculum, it is up to individual schools and teachers to decide how they teach the skill.

One teacher said: "The status of handwriting is being devalued generally. Children see adults using handwriting for rough work without an audience, but a product which is actually going to a recipient is generally produced on a computer."

Scotland's exam board said handwriting style was not taken into consideration when marking exams but legibility was crucial. A spokesman for the Scottish Qualifications Authority said: "Our basic approach is that if we can read it then we will mark it.

"Obviously if a piece of writing was indecipherable then we wouldn't be able to mark it so it's always in the best interest of exam candidates to ensure that their handwriting is as clear as it can be.

"Conversely, and some might bemoan the fact, neither do we award extra stylistic marks for handwriting flourish."

The importance of clear handwriting was underlined last November when the then prime minister, Gordon Brown, came under heavy criticism after his scrawl was exposed in a letter to the mother of a soldier who died in Afghanistan.

Brown later apologised to Jacqui Janes after she accused him of being "disrespectful" in a letter that began "Dear Mrs James" and appeared to contain other spelling errors.

However, the fact that the prime minister had written by hand did gain him some kudos as it was seen as a thoughtful touch. Brown said: "To all other families whom I have written to, I can only apologise if my handwriting is difficult to read."