Government tells pupils to cut out exclamation marks

TUESDAY MARCH 8 2016 FOR A generation growing up on social media, where grammar and punctuation are all but forgotten, this could come as a shock.

In a return to old-fashioned rules of English, the British government has said school pupils must be taught to cut down on exclamation marks.

Strict guidelines issued to teachers ahead of grammar tests this year state that sevenyear-old students should use the punctua- tion mark only in sentences that contain a verb and begin with “How” or “What”.

It means children will gain marks for writing “How amazing it was!” or “What a fun time we had!” but not for “How amazing!” or “What a fun time!”.

National curriculum guidance for English states: “Pupils should learn how to use sentences with different forms: statement, question, exclamation, command.”

The marking scheme comes after concern social media was causing young children to use excessive exclamation marks – for example, by writing “omg!!”, meaning “oh my God”.

Ben Fuller, of the education organisation Herts for Learning, called the move “farcical” and accused ministers of dragging writing back to the past.

Writing in the education newspaper Schools Week, he said he felt “deeply uncomfortable” about the guidelines and warned they could cause schools to “teach to the test”.

He added: “Is this going to lead to better standards in writing? Or is this about promoting a formulaic ‘painting by numbers’ approach to writing?

“Can anyone within the Department for Education justify this extraordinary require- ment for seven-year-old children to write in such an old-fashioned tongue?”

But the Department for Education said the move was to ensure pupils understood the correct use of punctuation.

A spokesman added: “A high-quality education in English – and the ability to communicate effectively – is an important part of the government’s commitment to extend opportunity to all.” – Daily Mail