In January 2017, the Principal's Association had conducted a state-wise random survey and found that a large number of schools make it mandatory for students to write in cursive
The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) has recently clarified that it has not given official status to cursive handwriting and has not imposed any guidelines on students to use the cursive script while writing their exam papers.
The clarification came as a response to a complaint filed by the Maharashtra State Principal's Association in January after it was found that a large number of English-medium schools across the state were making the use of cursive mandatory for students.
The response given by the board stated: "The board has got complaints stating that there is lack of clarity about norms with respect to cursive writing. They wish to clarify that it does not recognise any script as an official one for secondary or higher secondary examinations. There is no such norm mentioned in any of the text books or official study material/document issued by the board."
In January 2017, the Principal's Association had conducted a state-wise random survey and found that a large number of schools make it mandatory for students to write in cursive, which, according to some parents, created a lot of physical and mental stress for the students. "While parents did not complain fearing that it might upset the school authorities. As educationists we realised at an early stage that this compulsion puts the child through a lot of stress, and makes them anxious, since they are often rebuked for tnot adhering to the cursive writing style. While it is okay to teach cursive, schools cannot make it mandatory for students to follow it and cannot evaluate students on the basis of how well they write in the script," said Prashant Redij, Spokesperson, Maharashtra State Principal's Association.
Redij also said that the response of the board is now a clear indication that no school can impose any writing style upon the students. "Now we expect parents to come forward in cases where such an imposition is taking place," he said.
Krishnakumar Patil, Secretary of the Board said, "We have never laid any guidelines about what writing script is permissible and what is not. Schools cannot and should not make such norms on their own when the board does not discard any writing script."
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