Shafaq News
Once a defining
marker of identity and scholarship across the Arab world, Arabic handwriting is
now in steady decline. Teachers from Baghdad to Amman and Cairo say they
increasingly struggle to read student exam papers. Parents describe notebooks
filled with distorted letters and erratic lines. Education specialists warn
that the skill, which once anchored governance, literature, and religious
scholarship, is fading at a pace faster than educators can address.
In Iraq, the signs of
this erosion are visible as early as the third and fourth grades. Students
themselves admit they no longer see handwriting as important. Ammar, a
fourth-grade student, said he memorizes information and writes it down during
exams just to pass, adding that no teacher has ever criticized his handwriting
and that grades remain his only priority. A third-grade student, Fatima,
described a similar experience: “I write exactly as I read in textbooks, and my
father draws long guiding lines across my notebook so I can keep my writing
straight.”
At home, the
challenge becomes even more visible. Rasha, a working mother in Beirut, spends
evenings guiding her nine-year-old daughter’s hand as it moves unevenly across
the page. She draws lines to help her write straight, yet the letters still
drift upward or compress into hurried shapes. The process is slow and
discouraging. She recalls a childhood in which “a neat page carried a sense of
pride,” and worries her daughter is losing not only a skill but a connection to
the language itself.
In southern Iraq,
Jamal has revived an old classroom practice by drawing horizontal guidelines on
blank pages for his son. The boy writes quickly and carelessly, and letters
collapse into one another. “My son types with impressive speed but struggles
with basic handwritten forms. Handwriting is a relationship with the language
that cannot be replicated on a screen,” he said, describing the broader erosion
of foundational skills.
Teachers say this
decline has been years in the making. Heavy Arabic curricula leave little room
for foundational drills such as letter formation. Instructors in early grades
focus on finishing the syllabus rather than correcting handwriting. Shortened
periods in double-shift schools make dedicated writing practice nearly
impossible, while many households facing economic pressures no longer supervise
handwriting at home.
These issues converge
with factors inside the classroom. Several educators admit that newly recruited
teachers sometimes struggle to form letters correctly themselves.
Teacher-training institutions have leaned heavily toward technology-based
pedagogy and exam-oriented methods at the expense of script instruction. The
disappearance of the dotted handwriting booklet—once essential in early Arabic
literacy—has further removed a tool that allowed children to trace letters and
internalize proper structure.
Here, educators
emphasize that the decline is not only structural but behavioral. An
Arabic-language professor, Naif Shalal al-Khalidi, attributes part of the
deterioration to reduced writing frequency and the growing use of computers and
mobile phones instead of pens. He also notes a lack of motivation among
students to improve their handwriting and weak parental follow-up. “The problem
is compounded by inconsistent classroom attention and the absence of positive
reinforcement.” In his view, systematic training workshops, competitions, and
incentives could help revive student interest and restore handwriting as a
valued skill.
Regional educational
reports show that handwriting challenges extend far beyond Iraq. Surveys
conducted in several Arab states indicate widespread difficulty in reading students’
written responses and gaps in teacher preparation in teaching handwriting.
These trends coincide with the rapid expansion of smartphones, tablets, and
digital communication, reshaping how young people interact with text.
Salem Habib, a
handwriting specialist, said multiple studies found that children who rely
primarily on typing show weaker activation in brain areas responsible for
visual memory and language retention. “This is particularly significant for
Arabic, a script built on continuous hand movement and visual-spatial
coordination,” Habib noted that prolonged use of devices reduces fine-motor
control and visual sensitivity to letter shapes, making it harder for students
to regulate pen pressure and maintain proportion.
For centuries,
handwritten Arabic served as the vessel of intellectual and cultural life—used
in religious manuscripts, scientific works, poetry, and governance. Scripts
like Kufic, Naskh, Thuluth, and Ruq‘ah shaped the visual identity of the
region. During colonial periods in North Africa and the Levant, handwritten
Arabic was preserved in homes and community mosques, functioning as a subtle
form of cultural resistance.
Today, handwriting’s
symbolic value remains intact, but its educational foundations continue to
erode. Linguistics professor Ismail Hanna attributes the decline to weak
writing habits, digital reliance, limited motivation, and insufficient
follow-up from teachers and parents. “Handwriting cannot recover without
consistent monitoring, encouragement, and structured practice,” he stressed.
Other specialists
point to how script choice itself affects learning. For many students, early
education now relies heavily on Naskh—a formal script similar to Qur’anic
writing. At the Institute of Fine Arts in Dhi Qar, instructor Salah al-Din
al-Jassem argued that this slows learning because Naskh requires more precision
and longer training. He believed Ruq‘ah, traditionally used for everyday
writing due to its speed and simplicity, “is a better pedagogical starting
point but has gradually disappeared from early curricula.”
Al-Jassem traced part
of the decline to rapid digitalization and changing student attitudes. “The
dominance of keyboards and screens has overshadowed penmanship and weakened the
psychological readiness of students to engage in slow, disciplined handwriting
practice.” He noted that handwriting once relied on Ruq‘ah-based practice
booklets widely used in the 1950s, but that today’s early-grade teachers often
lack structured exercises and repetition techniques that help children
internalize correct letter shapes.
According to Jassem,
students must develop visual-motor skills, not only in drawing letters but in
imagining them. “Letter formation begins with a visual image,” he explained,
adding that proper posture, seating, and grip are essential. Teachers, he says,
must monitor hand-eye coordination closely during writing to reinforce correct
technique.
Across the region,
countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Lebanon have reintroduced Ruq‘ah
in primary curricula or reinstated handwriting booklets in private schools.
Morocco and Tunisia maintain relatively strong handwriting outcomes, partly due
to smaller class sizes and earlier script instruction.
Iraq, however, faces
additional obstacles. Overcrowded classrooms, curriculum overload, inconsistent
teacher preparation, and limited time in double-shift schools make sustainable
reform difficult. Examination committees increasingly report concerns about
illegible handwriting affecting the fairness of assessments, particularly in
subjects requiring extended written responses.
Despite these
challenges, Hanna pointed out that research repeatedly shows that handwriting
practice strengthens reading comprehension, cognitive processing, and long-term
retention. “Students who regularly write by hand develop stronger connections
between letter shape, sound, and meaning, an advantage that is especially
important in Arabic.”
Reform, however,
requires more than classroom adjustments. “Restoring handwriting demands a
coordinated effort,” Hanna said, “from strengthening teacher preparation to
reintroducing structured handwriting curricula and reinstating practical tools
like dotted handwriting booklets.”
Digital instruction,
according to him, must be balanced with traditional writing practice, and
cultural institutions can help connect younger generations with script
traditions through hybrid calligraphy-and-design programs.
The skill that once
underpinned Arabic thought, identity, and scholarly life is now at risk.
“Rebuilding it will require far more than longer lessons or revised booklets.
It will require restoring a cultural relationship with the written word—one
that shaped Arab societies for more than a millennium,” he concluded.
Written and edited by
Shafaq News staff.
