ASTANA (TCA) — At the Kazakh Government meeting on February 13, Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports Yerlan Kozhagapanov reported on measures taken for transition of the Kazakh language to the Latin alphabet, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
In October 2017, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree “On the transition of the Kazakh alphabet from Cyrillic to the Latin script”. In pursuance of this decree, a National Commission was established to translate the Kazakh alphabet into the Latin script until 2025.
Kozhagapanov said that a draft action plan has been developed to date, which details the phased transfer of the Kazakh alphabet to the Latin script until 2025.
The first stage is for 2018-2020. During this period, preparatory work and measures will be carried out to improve the regulatory legal framework. Spelling rules for the new Kazakh alphabet based on the Latin script, IT applications for a text-based conversion into the Latin alphabet will be developed.
The second stage is 2021-2023. Passports, citizens’ identity cards and other documents in the state language will be issued in the Latin script. Seminars and lectures, courses with the involvement of philologists and linguists will be organized to train teachers and the adult population.
The third stage is 2024-2025, when a phased transfer of office work of local and central state bodies, state media and state printed publications to the Latin script is planned. Step-by-step transfer of office work of education organizations into the Latin script will also be carried out.
The Ministry is currently working to establish a coordination center, Til-Kazyna, for the transition of the Kazakh alphabet to the Latin script.
