Will Tajikistan switch to the Persian alphabet?

On May 28, Emomali Rahmon instructed responsible officials from the Ministry of Education to improve the quality of teaching the “alphabet of the ancestors” in all educational institutions.

According to the president’s press service, this decision was made “as part of the education and promotion of Aryan history and culture.”

Emomali Rahmon emphasized that school educational programs should pay more attention to teaching this alphabet. In this regard, the Ministry of Education and Science of Tajikistan has been tasked with preparing specific proposals for the implementation of this program.

This presidential directive comes against the backdrop of critics’ statements that such directives are often for show. The issue of transitioning to the Persian alphabet has been discussed by the country’s intelligentsia for years. On social media, representatives of the intelligentsia are often divided into two camps. Some consider the transition to the Persian alphabet an important moment for the revival of historical writing, while others believe that this will increase the illiteracy of the population, as everyone is accustomed to Cyrillic.

The “alphabet of the ancestors” in Tajikistan refers to the Persian alphabet. This script has a history of over a thousand years and has served as the primary writing system for classical Tajik literature and science for centuries.

Until 1928, the residents of Tajikistan used this alphabet. However, in the 20th century, during the Soviet era, the Tajik language was first transitioned to Latin (1928–1940), and then in 1940 to Cyrillic.