Finland is one of the first countries to stop making cursive handwriting classes
compulsory
“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.
Joined-up writing has also become more difficult since Finns introduced new
ways of writing their letters in 1986
"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."