Playwrite is a typeface engine that allows the creation of primary school cursive fonts.
In Nigeria, there is an emphasis on students receiving instruction in the language they hear and use every day. This poses a challenge in a country with limited resources and great linguistic diversity. Apart from four widely spoken languages — Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and English — there are hundreds of regional languages as well as dialects. As a result teacher training and educational resources are required for several languages.
In the past, before the widespread use of computers, there was greater emphasis on handwriting. Today while private schools, with more resources, may adopt foreign models like Nelson Handwriting, public schools face financial constraints, impacting their ability to prioritise handwriting education. Given these circumstances, the handwriting style learned by students is often influenced by the habits of their parents and teachers, and they end up mimicking what they see around them.
Playwrite Nigeria Modern Characteristics
This upright modern cursive is modeled closely after the British Nelson Handwriting model, featuring simplified print-style capital letters. Key distinguishing features include an open 'G' without a crossbar and a uniquely constructed 'Y'. Lowercase letters that end with a descender stroke or a right-to-left stroke, such as 'b', 'f', 'g', 'j', 'p', 'q', and 'y', do not connect to the following letter. The 'q' is particularly noted for a short flick in its descender. Overall, the letter structure is simple and restrained, aiming for clarity and ease of learning.