Local primary and junior high school students will be required to participate in compulsory Chinese calligraphy classes and examinations after the summer vacation, in an effort to boost the handwriting skills of young pupils, local education authorities said on Thursday.

The Shanghai Municipal Education Commission said that the move will be strictly implemented at schools citywide later this year to solve the problem of poor handwriting among a growing number of students.

"With the development of Internet technology, more students are now relying on keyboards rather than pens to express their ideas and to communicate with others, which has really deteriorated their ability to write Chinese characters," Yan Huifeng, vice director of primary education for the commission, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The new curriculum means that young students will be subject to at least one Chinese calligraphy lesson per week and an exam every semester. Primary school students will take the tests using pencils and pens, while junior high school students will be tested with traditional ink-brushes.

The grades that primary school students receive on the tests will count towards 5 percent of their Chinese class marks, while marks for middle school students will only comprise 2 percent of their overall score for the subject.

But as a specific subject, Chinese calligraphy will only be graded in terms of "pass, fail and excellent," an evaluation that will be noted on school records.

"While this score won't count for final examinations, which affect students' chances of making it into a school of higher education, prestigious schools may look up a student's school record when deciding to accept them," said Yan. "Therefore, it's important for students to put every effort into mastering the art."

Yan, however, added that authorities may later consider adopting the subject into final examinations, which would then directly impact a student's chances of getting into schools that offer a higher education.