Signing off: Finnish schools phase out handwriting classes

Joined-up writing lessons dropped in favour of keyboard skills, in recognition of changing methods of communication.

Spidery scrawls across faintly lined paper or the carefully penned love letter will be the stuff of fairytales for many young Finns thanks to a new government policy. Schools in Finland are phasing out cursive handwriting classes in favour of keyboard skills, as officials accept that texting, tapping and tweeting have taken over as the primary means of communication in the modern age.

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Children don’t have time to become fast at cursive writing, so it’s not useful for them.

Minna Harmanen, Finland’s National Board of Education

“We used to do joined-up writing so that we could write faster, but these days kids only start learning it in grade two [aged eight] and have a year to get it right before moving on to concentrating on what they write, rather than simply how they write it,” said Minna Harmanen of Finland’s National Board of Education. “They don’t have time to become fast at cursive writing, so it’s not useful for them.”