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Handwriting should be reduced in schools says teaching union member

Aberdeen City Council is introducing stricter new rules to enhance child protection.
Aberdeen City Council is introducing stricter new rules to enhance child protection.

A leading member of a Scottish teaching union has called for the importance of handwriting to be graded down in schools to reflect modern life.

The ever-increasing number of computers and mobile phones being used by children has meant that skills in handwriting have been faltering.

And now calls have been made to reduce the focus on handwriting in schools and concentrate on other skills instead.

Susan Quinn, education convener at teaching union EIS, said: “You need to look at the balance of the curriculum and give appropriate time to skills that are needed.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to give as much emphasis on handwriting as schools did in the past.

“The idea that handwriting must be immaculate is no longer relevant. What is the relevance of beautiful copperplate?

“That is more about artwork. Is it vital to do that to write a quality report or piece of creative writing?

“GPs’ handwriting is the worst and it doesn’t mean they are bad doctors.

“Handwriting is a skill that supports other aspects of working and in the early stages of schooling it has a place on the curriculum as it helps children understand the formation of letters and is part of learning phonics.

“Most young people will present their work in digital form, although work for qualifications is still handwritten.

“Some schools are getting the balance right between old and new skills but not all of them.

“We have modern technology in the form of laptops and tablets and the technology has been around for 20 years, but schoolchildren continue to write with pencils and jotters.”

But some educators disagree and argue that there is still a place for handwriting in the Scottish curriculum.

Duncan Tolmie, a calligraphy lecturer at City of Glasgow College, has called for the subject to be taught to children.

He said: “Keyboards have taken over and handwriting is not taught as well or as much as it used to be.

“Because of the prevalence of phones and texting, children see handwriting as a chore.

“But in my experience they are fascinated when they see calligraphy – they love the flourishes and thick and thin strokes and take to it with a natural ability.

“There is a halfway house between calligraphy and the copperplate that my parents learned at school and that is modern calligraphy, which is fun, easy to learn and very satisfying.”