Karimnagar Collector Leads Unique Handwriting Revival
The collector partnered with Paramita Educational Institutions to hold competitions for government schools
KARIMNAGAR: Recognizing that the art of handwriting was fading in the age of artificial intelligence, district collector Pamela Satpathy has launched an initiative to promote handwriting skills and reduce dependence on mobile phones. She also organized district-wide handwriting competitions for students, officials, employees and teachers in Karimnagar.
The collector partnered with Paramita Educational Institutions to hold competitions for government schools. The competitions were first conducted at the school-level and then at the mandal level where a total of 584 students participated. Of them, 48 students were selected for the district-level competition held on Sunday.
To set an example, senior officials also participated in the handwriting competition, including collector Satpathy herself, additional collector Ashwini Tanaji Wakade and municipal commissioner Praful Desai.
M. Rithvika, a student from ZPHS Garsakurthi, shared her excitement stating that they were forgetting how to write because of mobile phones and computers. “Because of the collector madam’s decision, I focused on my handwriting, practiced well and won first place at the mandal level. I am very proud to have participated with madam in the district-level competition,” she said.
Satpathy told Deccan Chronicle: “I’ve observed that students, even when they have subject knowledge, are unable to write due to a lack of handwriting practice. For the past, years, we’ve instructed teachers to improve student’s handwriting by asking them to write at least one page of their subjects and read two pages daily. I follow this practice myself. During the valuation of answer sheets, a student with good handwriting often scores more marks. To improve writing skills, we held a competition where students, employees and teachers all actively participated.”
She also highlighted that regular handwriting practice offers benefits, including improving focus, discipline and patience. It also helps to prevent diseases like memory loss in old age and builds confidence and personality development in students.
The district-level award ceremony will take place on September 15 and prizes will be awarded to students in two categories. The first place winners will receive `5,000 each, second place winners `4,000 each and third place winners `3,000 each, fourth place winners Rs.2,000 each and fifth place winners `1,000 each. In addition, five consolation prizes and certificates will be given to winners at the mandal and school levels, she informed.
Mandal education officers Enugu Prabhakar Rao and Srinivas Reddy who participated in the competition said that they had a great experience and were reminded of their childhood student life. Handwriting isn’t just about the beauty of letters, it is a reflection of the clarity of one’s thoughts and develops discipline and patience. Such events encourage creativity and a love for letters among students.
