Writing: a Problem for Students

            Many students, when they begin to write, feel that their hands get paralyzed even if they have ideas and knowledge regarding the issue they wanted to write. Writing, itself isn’t a problematic task but no practice of writing descends one’s own self confidence due to which the tip of pen moves nowhere. Ignoring or neglecting writing tasks provided by teachers is one of the major problems that affects negatively in writing. More importantly, the teachers are also helpless to take any action against such students because of their limitations and there is no such rule or law of punishment­­­­- what type of punishment and how much punishment should be given- against such activities of students.

The problem of writing is a genuine problem encountered by students especially in developing countries like Nepal. Not able to write something what they know is the first problem and the next problem in writing is- even some students do write, their writing contains many errors and mistakes like grammatical mistakes, errors of punctuation,  using inappropriate vocabulary, lack of unity and coherence of the sentences, arguments running out of the major issue, plagiarism and much more. Such problems make writing unworthy, insignificant and ridiculous. Unfortunately, students of higher level fail to produce scholarly writings and can’t able to compete in the international level too.

Regarding the issue of writing, not a single person or institution is blamed rather the whole educational system is responsible for it. The curriculum prescribed for students from lower level is only concerned on providing information and knowledge but such curriculum do not motivate the students for writing rather it provides general information regarding the text prescribed. For instance, In Social Studies, prescribed by the Curriculum Development Centre, Sanothimi, Bhaktapur- students are expected to understand about social periphery, social changes, social structure, social personalities, social rituals, etc but they are not able to go back to their own society and make research, do findings about one’s own social culture, norms, values, structure and so on.

Furthermore, problems in writing existed due to students’ own nature. As compared to western (European) students, eastern (Asian) students, particularly Nepali students, do not have access to the Internet, library and so on. Whatever is accessible- text books- students hesitate to turn the pages and read it between the lines.  Instead of this, students are fond of reading cheap guess papers, guides, solutions and pass the examination. For Nepali students, passing final examination is a goal instead of acquiring quality education. Here, in this point, government too seems responsible. Government does not have laws against publishing cheap guess papers and solutions due to which students are distracted from their real motto.

In the same way, parents are also unaware of their children’s education. This doesn’t mean parents do not care about their children’s education rather they are not conscious about how the child is growing up? What type of education is s/he acquiring? How relevant and useful sources of education s/he possesses? It is happening, i.e., parents unknown about their children’s quality of education because most of them are from rural or semi-urban areas; most of them are illiterate and under the line of poverty.

Writing, as a problem exists not only in our country; it is the international academic problem. For instance, during the 1890s, writing course was introduced at Harvard University but its outcome shocked the whole university because most of the students were found incompetent in writing skill. In the case of grammar also, most students’ choices is driven not by considerations of what they want to say, and what they want to accomplish, but rather by a fear of committing errors. They consider “what would it be correct to say?” rather than “what would be most powerful or interesting or effective?” This is happening because students are taught to write. We did not focus on engaging themselves on writing instead of teaching writing.

Most of the people who bear old concepts and thoughts still say “One can’t hold his/her legs long by writing or reading.” Somehow, they are true in the case that, only through writing one can’t imagine to survive, through writing has not established, yet, as a profession especially in our country Nepal. On the other hand, writing is that strong tool which can bring changes in the society. For instance, Bhanubhakta wrote ‘Ramayana’ in Nepali language and taught moral lessons to the people. Laxmi Prasad Devkota wrote Muna-Madan to attack on caste system and also inspired us to reform our society with pride rather than humiliating ourselves in foreign land. Similarly, Amar Neupane wrote Seto Dharti to depict the child marriage existed in our society and to fight against such orthodox practices.

It is not the case that the writing is the end (everything) of life but it is writing, through which we can pave the way for better living. If we gaze upon world literature, we’ll notice that writing played a vital role in changing the society. For instance, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book Uncle Tom’s Cabin was the best-selling book of the 19^th century, following Bible. The impact attributed to the book is great, reinforced by a story that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the start of Civil war, Lincoln declared”So, this is little lady who started this great war.” This book itself is an example of writing that affirms the role of ‘writing’ as an agent of social change. More importantly, writing can be a way to change our society, even our own identity to a new height.

In the field of ‘writing’, though many students commit errors or mistakes, we can improve it through various efforts. First, the curriculum should be design in such a way that students can engage themselves in writing activities. If students, themselves, engage in writing, gradually their errors, mistakes and weakness will be known to them which lead towards a qualitative writing. Second, from the government level, rules and regulations should be made in such a way that no single person, institution or printing press dare to publish cheap guess papers, guides and solutions without the prior permission of Ministry of Education. If the government comes forth with strict laws then, students will not depend on such filthy guide books rather they develop the habit of reading text books, preparing note books, maintaining home assessments which enhances their writing skill. Third, educational institutions can run workshops on developing writing skills, frequently. Through such workshops, students can analyze their writing, evaluate it, make corrections and accelerate their skill of writing. Fourth, with the support of government and family members, students should be made reachable to the sources of education like internet, libraries, films and documentaries, journals and research papers, etc. Access to education sources sharpen the mind of students which is exaggerated in their writing too. This leads them towards maturity in writing. Beside these, literacy programs should be run in rural areas too, which help the guardians able to understand the power of knowledge. If guardians are educated and aware of their children’s future, they will not force them just to pass the final examination rather they motivate them to acquire quality education which acts as a back support for writing.