Well we were taught cursive in Primary school as penmanship (which I continuously score zero because I can't follow such patterns without someone guiding my hand), and when I reached high school, the teachers went on a "strike" and refuse to mark any essays in "unintelligible writing".
Victims were mostly cursive writers, and some parents complained that it is "cursive" and thus is "normal"; the English Department's Literature teachers hit back with "Arabic is not the
lingua franca". Even the school inspectors who came down was rolling over in laughter amongst themselves until a deal was reached - the students will be given the option to submit their work in typeouts, but no negotiation will be reached on their behalf if the Cambridge Assessment Board refuses to mark their papers during their 'A's.
Regardless, one of my GP teachers made a fantastic statement,
Quote:
It is not about the way the words are written, it is about how the entire essay is designed. It is no different from designing a machine on a blueprint - it must be simple to read, simple to understand, but detail the most complex thoughts in the clearest form. Handwriting is one of the keys of design - it is the method of presentation; your only way of bringing an idea across to others.
So why write cursive when you can write caveman?
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P.S I was one of those victims for constantly breaking the 5th Rule in Orwell's 6 rules of writing - from then on I swore off essays debating about advancement in technology or about computers; cavemen can't read. [/sarcasm]