Poor handwriting is mostly due to negligence

Editor, RE: “Why your handwriting could cost you that dream job” (The New Times, June 8). It’s common sense for people to have good handwriting just like all right thinking members of society. Out of experience as a lecturer, I have seen many bright students either failing or get lower grades due to poor handwriting due the I-don’t-care attitude. I always encourage students with bad handwriting to endeavour writing big letters at least which the lecturers can easily read. Needless to point out lecturers or employers whose job require them to receive many scripts from people, in most cases handwritten, are human beings. If your work is not readable then expect to fail because the addressee will have no choice. Have you ever thought that only 1 or 2 marks can change your class of degree or certificate, your future? Yet, if you tell most people who claim to have bad handwriting to write a document to receive money from somewhere, I don’t think they will write badly. I think it’s wrong to assume that we will 100 per cent digitalize all our common sense and writing. We are there to manage machines to give us good results, but not the machines to manage our minds, jobs, families and economies. There is power to tell how your mind functions through handwriting and this should be done through a chain of command. Good handwriting goes hand in hand with grammar and reading. Good handwriting needs practice; no one was born able to write, we all practice handwriting, right from kindergarten to high levels of education. Good handwriting is a sign of seriousness and maturity. Henry Mapesa

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Poor handwriting is mostly due to negligence