Write it right

Jamshedpur, Nov. 29: Blame it on the lack of parental interest, unwillingness among teachers to ask questions or poor finger movement, a large number of school students today have untidy handwriting.

Well, at least that’s what a survey by teachers of Kerala Samajam Model School reveals.

The study, Smart, was conducted by the school to identify the most serious problem in a cross-section of students in the schools and how to rectify it using quality measures.

This study, along with several others, was presented during a quality circle presentation at Kerala Samajam Model School this evening.

Organised by Kerala Public School in Kadma, this was the first time ever that a quality circle competition for teachers was also organised.

The survey, conducted on a cross-section of over 200 students, identified various problems faced by students. Among the five-odd problem areas identified, about 59 students had untidy writing, which was 28 per cent of the total student populace.

“Though we identified several problems, but it was the problem of handwriting that was found in most of students,” said Shailaja, a schoolteacher.

This problem posed a challenge for the teachers to solve it effectively. Within a span of few months the problem reduced and a study conducted after six months showed that not only has the handwriting changed but their confidence level was also boosted.

“We adopted various measures like sand paper writing, picking of puffed rice and more practices apart from interaction with parents and counselling. Moreover, on a regular basis students were given a test to reach up to a particular standard and that too has proved to be beneficial,” said a teacher.

After the implementation of quality measures, the percentage dropped to 9 per cent. But this study was not alone, if handwriting was a problem, other three schools under the Kerala Public School banner found that a large percentage of students suffered from maths phobia and lack of interest among English-medium students to study Hindi.

The reasons ranged from fear of the subject to predictable teaching methods. Another interesting study was, however, on the ill effects of corporal punishment in school presented by Kerala Public School in Kadma, but the teachers somehow failed to substantiate their points.