site.btaBulgaria Marks Day of Bulgarian Education and Culture and of Slav Letters

Bulgaria Marks Day of Bulgarian Education and Culture and of Slav Letters

Sofia, May 24 (BTA) - "More than ever before, the revival of Bulgarian education, science and culture must be a long-term, supra-partisan and strategic national priority," Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said, addressing a formal ceremony in front of the Sts Cyril and Methodius National Library in Sofia on Tuesday on the occasion of May 24, Day of Bulgarian Education and Culture and of Slav Letters.

"Educating the young is the best investment in the future of a country and of a people," the head of State pointed out.

"To us Bulgarians there is no other day on which we can exclaim:
       'We, too, in this world have performed a good deed,
       Given all Slav peoples the books they read',"
he said, quoting from a famous poem by national poet Ivan Vazov. "On this day, we pay homage to the historic lifework and mission of the saintly brothers and their disciples," the President added, referring to Cyril and Methodius. "On this day, we give well-deserved credit to the selfless endeavours of Bulgarian teachers and awakeners. On this day we are proud to be Bulgarians, a people of glorious past and future, an ancient and civilized people who has created an alphabet of its own," Plevneliev said.

Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova pointed out that every Bulgarian family is aware of the mission of children's education. "It is up to us to show them that knowledge and skills can make them successful and happy people," she said.

Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte, Deputy Prime Minister and Education and Science Minister Meglena Kuneva, university rectors, MPs and municipal councillors attended the ceremony.

"The script whose prototype was devised by the saintly brothers Cyril and Methodius has now been adopted as official by hundreds of millions of people around the world, who use it in their day-to-day communications," Prime Minister Boyko Borissov wrote on Facebook. "Bulgaria's contribution in preserving this cultural asset is significant on a global scale and is something that can make every Bulgarian feel proud of their roots," the PM notes.

May 24 was marked by festive processions of pupils and teachers and other cultural events countrywide.

* * *

The brothers Constantine (Cyril) (827-869) and Methodius (815-885), Byzantine missionaries born in Salonica, devised the Glagolitic in AD 855 or 862-863. The Cyrillic, on which the modern Slav nations' alphabets are based, came 40-50 years later, c. AD 902-912 and, like the Roman script, was adapted from the Greek alphabet. The Slav alphabet was adopted in Bulgaria in AD 886 as a vehicle of enforcing Old Bulgarian as the single national and liturgical language. From Bulgaria, the script spread to other Slav countries and is now used by some 250 million people worldwide in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Serbia, Macedonia and Croatia.

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By 01:19 on 24.01.2025 Today`s news

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