Qazinform launches Töte Jazu course for Maqsut Narikbayev University students

According to the approved plan, more than 300 future lawyers will master this script, learning to read and write in it.

"This year, we are starting to teach our students Töte Jazu for the first time. First-year students at the Higher School of Law will undergo a three-week intensive course," said Gulzhat Alimbayeva, Coordinator of the Department of General Education Disciplines at the Higher School of Humanities. "For Jurisprudence and International Law students, mastering Töte Jazu will not only open a direct gateway to history, but will offer them the opportunity to read 20th-century Kazakh criminal laws in their primary form. The ability to read and understand a century-old Criminal Code will enable our students to view the current Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan through a new lens and express their own opinions regarding improving it. The first-year students who master Töte Jazu will be able to freely apply this knowledge in their senior years within specialized disciplines and in the future become competitive, highly qualified experts."

She noted that there are plans to expand the Töte Jazu course to other educational programs in the next academic year.

"Previously, a three-day course was also organized for university staff. Within three days, faculty and staff studied the letters of the Töte Jazu alphabet and had an insightful exploration of the historical heritage. This project will continue in the future as well," Gulzat Alimbayeva noted.

The project is being executed as part of the 30th Anniversary of the TV and Radio Complex of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The classes are given by Rizabek Nussipbek, Editor-in-Chief of Qazinform News Agency's Töte Jazu Division.

"The first Kazakh newspapers were published in Töte Jazu. Our nation’s greatest writers and the legal scholars of the Alash Orda Movement recorded criminal laws in this script," Nussipbek highlighted. "By studying Töte Jazu, we can reach deeper into our layers of the past. This opens the opportunity to read the legacy left by our wise and great ancestors in the original. During the full course, students will not only become familiar with the historical significance of the Töte Jazu alphabet but also attain a level of fluency in reading and writing in this script."

Töte Jazu is widely considered the first formal Kazakh alphabet. In 1912, Akhmet Baitursynov adapted the Arabic script to create a flexible, national alphabet that preserved the specific phonetic features of the Kazakh language. It remained the primary script taught in schools until 1929.

Nowadays, the Töte Jazu script is still used by Kazakhs living in China and Iran. Among them are Kazakhs who migrated from the Altai Mountains, crossing the Himalayas to reach Türkiye and European countries. This part of the diaspora also speaks and can read texts written in Töte Jazu.

It is worth noting that Qazinform News Agency has been publishing information in the Töte Jazu script since 2009.