Mongolian president calls for wider use of traditional script

ULAN BATOR, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj on Monday appealed for increased use of the country's traditional script, local media reported.

Presenting awards at a national calligraphy contest ceremony, Elbegdorj said promotion of traditional Mongolian script should be duty of every Mongolian president and senior leaders of the state, as it was one of the cultural values of the Mongolian people.

"Making traditional script a part of everyday life requires time and effort. Though we are encountering many challenges, the number of people who know the script is on the rise year by year," he said.

Last July, the president ordered the use of the vertical script in high-ranking official letters and documents, such as birth and marriage certificates and educational diplomas.

The traditional Mongolian alphabet was used until 1946 when the Cyrillic alphabet was introduced. The government started a campaign to re-introduce it for public use in the early 1990s. But the Cyrillic alphabet remains the mainstay of daily life and is used in almost all books and newspapers in Mongolia.