Jodhpur: In an effort to improve the handwriting of children, the Rajasthan government has mandated the use of pencils for students upto Class 5 in state-run schools, an official said on Wednesday.

The initiative has been taken up by the Directorate of Primary Education in Bikaner.

"The directorate's additional commissioner has issued orders that students in primary level at schools should not allowed to use ball pens as it has an adverse impact on their handwriting," said a senior education department official.

He said that the education department had carried out a survey recently in which it was found that children who used pencils at the primary level had a better handwriting than their counterparts who used ball-point pens. IANS