INTRODUCTION

This chapter seeks to lay down the historical development of education in Istanbul in the Republican era as concise and extensive as possible. However, this proves to be a daunting task since Istanbul, serving as the capital of three empires, stepped into the Republican era as the inheritor of the 600-year-old Ottoman civilization. One of the most significant elements of this heritage is the modern educational institutions which educated the generation that founded the Republic. The aforementioned heritage constituted the backbone of the Turkish educational system during the foundation of the Republic. Eminent urban historian, Osman Ergin, verbalized his need for publishing his five-volume work- Türk Maarif Tarihi (Turkish Education History) on Istanbul schools at the end of the era of Atatürk (1938) by stating that ‘’Up until yesterday, did Turkey not refer to education in Istanbul while using the term, education? Is this not almost the same today either?’’. As shall be put forward in detail, existing statistical findings support the aforementioned assertion.

In fact, a significant part of the Ottoman educational heritage, inherited by the Turkish Republic, was located in Istanbul. The dominant role of the city in the educational system of the country was provided understandably at the secondary and the higher education levels. As a matter of fact, more than half of the private and public high schools in Turkey and all the universities and the colleges between the years 1923-24 were located in this city. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that the prominent place of Istanbul within the educational system derived from not only the number of educational institutions but also the quality of these since the best schools on different levels were situated in this city. In short, historical facts confirm Osman Ergin’s assertion: Istanbul served as an impeccable example for elucidating the Turkish education system. For this reason, writing its educational history proved as difficult as writing the history of the country.

What is the situation today (2013)? This could be illuminated by a close examination of the statistical information on education in Istanbul, which has transformed into an important global metropolis with an approximate population of 14.000.000. The following findings from 2011-2012 provide explanatory clues for laying down the place and importance of the city in the Turkish education system: 44 out of 168 universities in the country are located in Istanbul; 11 in 100 pre-school students, 17 in 100 primary school students, 18 in 100 secondary school students studied in this city; and one in every seven teachers within formal education served in this city. These numbers demonstrate that Istanbul is at the epicenter of education in Turkey, and constitutes a sample, which is highly representative of the subject population in a study that is conducted for determining the educational system of the country today. This article deals with education in Istanbul in the Republican era within the historical context and within the integrity of the system.

EDUCATION MANAGEMENT: FROM ISTANBUL DIRECTORATE OF EDUCATION TO CITY DIRECTORATE OF NATIONAL EDUCATION

In order for a correct interpretation of its past, present and future as a state and/or city, education in Istanbul requires to be discussed within the integrity of the system, for educational systems are social structures that are not only constituted by a combination of sub-educational systems on different levels but also connected to an upper-system. These are defined as ‘’open social systems’’ as they interact and exchange as a living organism with its surrounding. The form of task, authority and responsibility sharing between the city education organization and the upper system (ministry), to which the city education organization is linked as an intermediate system, demonstrates the administrative character of the national education system as a whole. Whereas, the administrative power is centralized to a great extent in unitary countries as Turkey, certain authorities are left to local administrations in federal states. Nonetheless, the fact that Turkey, establishing a parliamentary government based on the unity of powers through the 1924 Constitution [Teşkilât-ı Esasiye Kanunu], founded a more liberal and decentralized educational system during the Republican era as opposed to the tendency to autocratizating political life stipulated by mandatory provisions of Maarif Teşkilatına Dair Kanun (Law Regarding the Educational Organization-1926) contradicts the aforementioned trends. There exist some other phenomena that render this contradiction much more striking. One of these is that the educational system of the Republican era was established according to John Dewey’s views -one of the most important representatives of liberal philosophy in the 20^th century. Dewey’s views that guided the Turkish educational reforms were materialized as much as possible by the ministers of education. One of these reforms was the formation of education regions by means of combining several cities in Turkey while the other is the establishment of the Directorates of Education in these regions.

Istanbul Maarif Eminliği (Istanbul Directorate of Education) was actually founded in conjunction with education regions. According to Maarif Teşkilâtına Dair Kanun (Law Regarding the Education Organization) which entered into force in 1926, cities subordinate to Istanbul were Kocaeli, Bursa, Bolu and Zonguldak. Directors of Education were authorized with appointing, controlling, awarding and punishing the officers and inspectors within their region of education. They were also able to control secondary education institutions within the region. During the years in which the Republican-era regime put the most radical reforms into effect in the field of education, the Directorate of Education in Istanbul acted as a local ministry in cities under its administration. In this context, preparations for the Alphabet Reform and the subsequent Alphabet courses played the main role in conducting National School A and B courses.

Regarding the centralization as the guarantee for the integrity of the state, the Republican-era regime gained experience in decentralized administration by means of the Directorates of Education. Serving as an intermediate body between the Ministry and local administrations, Directorates of Education achieved a countrywide success. Nevertheless, they were abolished owing to prospective disadvantages.

Hence after, the Turkish education system stepped into a centralized administrative era which has continued up till today. Within this system, educational organizations in the cities operate under the roof of Directorates of National Education. Istanbul City Directorate of National Education constitute the most significant rural organization disposing of approximately 1/5 of teachers, students and schools under the administration of the Ministry of National Education.

FORMAL EDUCATION

Structured according to the Fundamental law of National Education no. 1739, which went into force in 1973, national education system of the Turkish Republic was sectionalized into two main strands as ‘’formal education’’ and ‘’non-formal education’’. The formal education is characterized by regular education under the school roof by means of goal-oriented programs aimed at students of certain age groups and same level, and covers preschool, primary, secondary and higher education institutions.

As emphasized before, Istanbul, as a city comprising of 18% of Turkey’s population in 2012, hosts an important part of the country’s formal education institution. In the following lines, the historical development of formal education and its present will be dealt with on the basis of education levels.

Preschool Education

Preschool education in present Turkey encapsulates the education of 3-5 year-old age-groups. Preschool education institutions can operate as not only independent kindergartens but also kindergartens under the administration of primary schools or classes of practice under the roof of other relevant educational institutions when required.

Preschool education in Turkey emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century in Istanbul. In parallel with the increase in the number of working women during the II. Meşrutiyet (Second Constitutional Monarchy), the demand for preschool education institutions rose, which urged the Directorate of Education to take precautions and train a sufficient number of qualified personnel. As a result, a Main Teacher’s School was opened as a part of Darülmuallimat-ı Âliye (the Imperial School for Teachers). However, the fall of a state owing to a four-year-long war brought the growth in education to a halt, and the school, with its unemployed graduates, was closed thereafter (1918). Some of the schools, opened during the years of social depression and financial difficulties in the Ceasefire period, were also closed. Therefore, a weak but vitally important institutional heritage and experience was bequeathed by the Ottoman Empire.

A total of 80 private/ public kindergartens provided education in 38 cities all over Turkey between the years1923-1924, and were comprised of 5880 students. A significant part of these schools covered private schools, which included foreign and minority schools. There were only 8 official kindergartens in Istanbul. The class named Filiz had 209 students whilst there were 338 students in the class named Gonca, and 194 students in Gül. There was a total of 741 students in these schools. 32 of these students were at the age of three whereas 154 students were at the age of four; 237 of these were five years old; 187 students were at the age of six, and ultimately 131 of the students were at the age of seven. 27 of student parents’ were occupied with trade, 243 worked as shopkeepers and artisans; 298 of these served as public officers, 14 were sheiks, 92 worked as labourers/ farmers, and 7 parents were members of notable and wealthy families. The parents of 60 students were engaged in other occupations. These data demonstrate that a majority of preschooler families were comprised of public officers, shopkeepers and artisans (72.9%) during the establishment of the republic. It is also noteworthy that these families possessed a regular and/ or sufficient income.

The number of official kindergartens increased to 13 in Istanbul during the 10 anniversary of the Republic (1933-1934 school year): These were the Cağaloğlu Yeni Nesil Kindergarten, the Boğaziçi Kindergarten, the Kindergarten at Okullar Güneşi Secondary School, the Kindergarten at Feyziatı High School, the Kindergarten at Hayriye High School, the Kindergarten at Fevziye High School, the Kindergarten at Işık High School, the Kindergarten at Şişli Terakki High School, the Aksaray kindergarten, the Gedikpaşa Children’s House, the Kadıköy Alaaddin Ana Kucağı and the Üsküdar Kindergarten. Approximately one teacher served in each of these schools. During the 1933-1934 school year, private schools outnumbered public schools in Istanbul with 22 schools, which were divided into the following branches: (i) Private Turkish kindergarten, (ii) Private Foreign kindergarten and (iii) Private Minority kindergarten. The total number of kindergartens reached 35 in Istanbul between these years.

In the second half of 1930s, Turkey spent its entire energy and resources on increasing the rate of schooling. Primary schooling rate was around 20% while it was considered unrealistic to allocate resources for preschool education. The budget allocated for preschool education for the 1937-38 school year was utilized for developing primary education. This practice culminated in the closing of official kindergartens and nursery schools. 33 out of 80 public/ private kindergartens were closed during the 1937-38 school year. This number rose over 80 only in the 1964-65 school year. The state commenced to follow a policy for developing preschool education by means of opening kindergarten classes within existing primary schools in the 1970s. It also supported the development policy by opening independent kindergartens in the private sector. As a result of these simultaneous efforts, there occurred a remarkable increase in the number of preschool educational institutions, teachers and students. Between 1995-96, the number of schools rose up to 558 whereas the number of students reached 21.006. In addition, the number of teachers moved up to 1201. Nonetheless, this increase did not prevent pre-schooling rate from rising in Istanbul, which was experiencing a population boom caused by births and emigration.

As of 2000s, the preschool education was emphasized and became one of the most invested educational fields for the state. Businesses with over 150 employees were required to open in-house kindergartens. By virtue of substantial state contributions to this field, preschool education has demonstrated prominent quantitative improvements in the last ten years in Istanbul.

The Preschool education is classified into two groups as nursery classes and kindergartens. In 2012, the number of official kindergartens stood at 85 compared to private kindergartens with a number of 762 in Istanbul. A total of 3371 teachers provided education in kindergartens. There exist 1355 public and 133 private nursery classes. In the kindergartens, there are 13 students per class, 14 students per branch, and 11 students per teacher. On the other hand, there are 3078 classes and 4376 branches in the nursery departments in Istanbul. These schools accommodate a total of 86.300 students and 4014 teachers. Each class holds 28 students, whilst 20 students are enrolled in each branch, and each teacher educate 21 students.

The nursery classes and the kindergartens accommodate a total of 11.399 teachers in Istanbul. The number of students allocated per class stands at 21 when compared to the number of student per branch at 17, and 16 preschool students per teacher. This distribution can be accepted as an ideal number in terms of school level. This situation demonstrates that Istanbul has reached the level of schooling required, and at least caught the quantitative average in the level of schooling.

When data from the initial years of the Republic and data from the 2011-12 in Table 1 are compared, it can be reiterated that there has occurred a notable development in preschool education in Istanbul as a result of the recent accelerating growth. It is also discerned that private school investors have made substantial contributions to this development. The best way of explaining this phenomenon is that the state has played the pivotal role in increasing the number of nursery classes by attaching classes to the primary schools. During the year in question, 91.1% of 1488 nursery classes served as public classes whilst only 10% of 847 kindergartens for the ages of 3-5 were constituted by public schools.

However, Istanbul does not still possess the desired schooling rate in preschool education despite the developments in the previous school year. The low rate of schooling is rooted in the high yearly tuitions of kindergartens (90% of which operate within the private sector), which renders it impossible for the low and the low/middle income groups to afford.

Primary School Education

The Fundamental Law for National Education [METK] no. 1739 defines primary school education as other levels of education. According to the law, primary education encapsulates the education of 6-13 year-old children within the Turkish education system. It is mandatory for all citizens regardless of gender, and it is provided free of charge at state schools. The goal of primary education is to assist students in gaining necessary basic knowledge, skills, behaviour and habits; growing in accordance with national moral understanding; getting prepared for life and a higher level in terms of interest, aptitude and skills.

Mandating primary education as basic civic education for all emerged as a result of the need that Western nation-states desired to guarantee their survival by means of rearing generations uniting under common emotions and thoughts. Furthermore, this process was influenced by the Enlightenment thought (eighteenth century) that basic education was a human right and by the imposition to mass education by the Industrial Revolution for a labour force with common knowledge, skills and behaviour/values. The Ottoman Empire witnessed efforts for establishing and actualizing the idea of mandatory basic education on a legal ground during the last century of its existence.

Since the Tanzimat (the Reforms Period), many steps were taken in order to modernize and popularize primary education. However, the Republic inherited a literate population of 9%, and 20% schooling in primary education. This heritage exposed the Republican Turkey to two problems that it would have to struggle with for tens of years: elimination of illiteracy and schooling of the primary education generation. These problems would bring up the issue of alphabet discussed for half a century by Ottoman intellectuals as well as Turkish intellectuals in the Russian Tsardom.

The Alphabet Revolution and Nation Schools

One of the solutions found to increase literacy levels since the Tanzimat was whether it would be better to continue the adaptation of Arabic alphabet to Turkish or the adoption of a new alphabet. Gazi Mustafa Kemal [Atatürk] created a commission for researching this problem in Istanbul. As a result of the studies participated by Atatürk in person, it was decided that the alphabet should be changed to the ‘’New Latin-based Turkish Alphabet’’. Gazi made this decision public on 8 August 1928 in Sarayburnu, Istanbul.

As expressed by the Prime Minister, İsmet İnönü, the Alphabet Reform as a project of civilization change cancelled out the limited literacy of social masses at all levels. In order to increase the literacy level, many different projects were tested. National Schools (Millet Mektepleri) became the primary step of these projects aimed at teaching the new Turkish letters and providing basic civic education. Mustafa Kemal commenced the practices of this foundation in Istanbul. He was the first to lecture with the title of Head teacher at the Dolmabahçe Palace.

The Revolution Staged Noteworthy Scenes in the City

All signboards were changed in a short time; the newspapers started to be partially published with the new alphabet at the beginning, and were completely published with the new alphabet in a couple of months. Nearly everyone, including the illiterate and educated, was enrolled in the National Schools. These schools operated under the authority of the city governor. Later replaced by Halkevleri (People’s House) and Halkodaları (People’s Chamber), the Turkish Guilds supported the works of these schools. However, it took several years for the literacy level to reach the level prior to the Alphabet Reform.

Single Party Regime and Transition Years

As of the declaration of the Turkish Republic in 1923, Turkey was governed by CHP (the Republican People’s Party) through a single-party system- except for short-term trials- for 22 years. In line with its designated principles, CHP implemented a series of reforms aimed at actualizing the welfare of the nation and maintaining the continuation of the new Turkish state designed as a nation-state. Within this process, education occasionally became both the subject and object of change.

Quantitative Development in Primary Education Between 1923-1950

The number of primary schools amounted to 5010 between the years 1923-1924 in Turkey. 4894 of these were constituted by primary schools; 116 schools-officially categorized in the secondary education level until 1973- were middle schools. 351.835 students were educated while 11.292 teachers provided education at these schools. The condition of primary schools, teachers and students in Istanbul illustrated the enormous problem faced by the Republic during the same year.

As seen from Table 2, Istanbul accommodated schools of different class levels between 1923-24. The number of primary schools amounted to 222 with 22 one-classed, 47 two-classed, 38 three-classed, 18 four-classed, 22 five-classed and 75 six-class schools.

The six-classed primary schools were the continuation of primary schools which emerged through the combination of primary and secondary schools as per Tedrisat-ı İbtidaiyye Kanun-ı Muvakkati (Law for Temporary Primary Education) in 1913. Schools with fewer classes were probably located in villages particularly constituting 12.6% of the city population according to 1927 census data. As of the declaration of the Republic, Istanbul possessed a primary school building. Furthermore, five primary schools were closed since there were no teachers. In the meantime, approximately 21.2% (47 in total) of primary schools were exclusively girl schools. In the same year, there were 11 middle schools- 6 boys and 5 girls - providing education in Istanbul.

Istanbul had a total of 24.820 primary school students- 15.643 male and 9.177 female students- in the 1923-24 school year. On the other hand, 1.588 were educated in the middle schools.

As might be expected, the proportion (36.9%) of female students at schools of Istanbul to the total number of students in Istanbul was twice as much as the country’s average (18.4%). This resulted from the social, cultural and psychological reflections of all the activities performed to improve the literacy level of girls since the Tanzimat. Cultural/ mentality changes demonstrated centrifugal movements as cultural/ mentality changes demonstrated centripetal movements just as other fields. As a result, the literacy levels of Muslim girls demonstrated a centrifugal increase. This favourable environment and the protests by the students of İnâs Darülfünunu (Girls University) would lay the grounds for transition to coeducation in higher education before many Western countries during the Ceasefire Period. 2975 teachers served in Istanbul in the 1923-24 school year. These teachers included 1136 primary and 84 middle school teachers. A substantial number of primary school teachers were female. For instance, 32 (40.5%) out of 79 teachers serving at the city boarding schools and orphanages, and 45 (53.5%) out of 84 teachers at middle schools were female. This gender distribution among teachers stood among both the results and causes of the modernization in Turkey.

In the 1933-1934 school year, Istanbul accommodated a total of 2708 teachers: 524 male and 946 female teachers at central primary schools; 441 male and 817 female teachers at the private primary schools. In the same school year, 391 teachers provide education in Istanbul’s villages. After approximately twelve years (in the 1945-46 school year), 607 male and 1654 female teachers served at public and private primary schools in central Istanbul, whereas there were only 439 teachers in the villages of Istanbul. The total number of teachers serving in the center and villages amounted to 2700. These numbers demonstrate the fall in the number of students when compared to previous twelve years.

Teacher resources during this period look quite interesting. To exemplify, 37 teachers serving in central Istanbul were college graduates while 99 teachers graduated from high school; there were 1045 teacher’s school graduates. In addition, 98 teachers graduated from secondary-level vocational college, and 123 teachers were primary school graduates.

Boarding schools were opened for the first time in 1940 in Istanbul. These are as follows: The Büyükçekmece Boarding School, the Beykoz Bozhane Village Boarding School, the Şile Teke Village Boarding School and the Şile Kurallı Village Boarding School.

According to the education statistics of 1938, the population of Istanbul had not reached 1.000.000 yet. 477 public primary schools were located in Istanbul and populated by 884.222 people. These schools provided education with 73.256 students with the help of 1.859 teachers on duty. In that year, Istanbul consisted of 11 centers and 6 surrounding districts (Table 3). It is also known that some villages in the city did not have any teachers.

No radical change is observed in primary education numbers in Istanbul until the 1950s since serious political and social developments were in play on an international level during this period. The population had not demonstrated any rapid increase either. Moreover, the influx of immigrants, destroying the cultural and urban texture, had not taken place in Istanbul yet.

Unification of Education and Secularization

Following the declaration of the Republic, a series of reforms were actualized within the field of education, and kicked off primarily in Istanbul. Implemented under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, one of the most significant goals of education reforms was to establish a secular educational system. For this reason, Turkey followed the path of the Third Republic in France, and thus omitted religious lessons and/or themes from the curriculum. Village schools were left out of this practice until 1939. Naturally there was no religious education within the boundaries of Istanbul Municipality whereas village schools, 3-5 km away from the center, continued providing religious education.

One of the actions taken within the scope of secularization and nation-state policies was the abolishment of primary-education classes from the Madrasahs in Istanbul, and closure of schools named İmam Hatip as per the Law for the Unification of Education shortly after. In the 1924-25 education year, 269 students were provided educational services in the non-primary section of the Istanbul Imam Hatip School compared to the primary section with 119 students. However, as will be pointed out below, this school was closed in 1931.

Metropolitanization Process: Development With the Quantity-Quality Dilemma

The year 1950 laid the ground for the start of a new period for Turkey. With a thirteen-times larger population in the second half of the twentienth century, Istanbul became one of the most notable metropolis of the world. Social and cultural change, industrialization, urbanization witnessed a great many quantitative developments. Nevertheless, this rapid growth brought about many other problems eroding the quality in primary education.

Quantitative Development of Primary Education in Istanbul (1950-2012)

An industrialization process took place in the new period commencing in conjunction with DP’s accession to power in 1950. As the most important reflection of this process, immigration emerged as the most important shaping factor for education. As observed in Table 4, the number of primary-level students exhibited a more substantial rise owing to emigration compared to the number of schools and teachers, which caused the number of students per teacher to increase and culminated in gradually-crowding classes. For instance, the number of schools, teachers and students increased by 1.4, 4.3 and 7.6 times respectively in Istanbul between 1950-1970 during which the first emigration wave occurred and engendered the germination of slums in districts such as Fikirtepe, Kuştepe and Zeytinburnu. Accordingly, the rise in the number of students was respectively 5.4 and 1.7 times larger than the number of schools and teachers. This disproportionate growth paved the way for a chronic deficit in the number of classes and an insufficient number of teachers.

Numerical data from the last thirty years of the twentieth century suggest that the rates of increase changed; however, the process in general maintained its character. To exemplify, the number of schools, teachers and students in Istanbul rose by 2.3, 5.0 and 4.8 times respectively between 1970-2000 (Table 4). Between these years, the number of teachers and students were at approximately same rates as opposed to slowly schools increasing in number. As seen from these findings, it can be said that there was a continuation in problems- which will be dealt with more broadly- emanating from the rapid/ uncontrolled demographic growth in primary education in Istanbul at the turn of the twenty-first century.

* Primary School
** Middle School

Indicators for the School Year 2011 - 2012

When examined, data from the 2011-2012 school year demonstrate that the increase in the number of students came to a halt. In contrast, there was a 44% increase in the number of teachers. These numbers suggest that the provincial-wide rise in the number of schools/classes, teachers and students had, for the first time, contributed to an increase in the quality of education in the last sixty years (Table 4,5).

As observed from Table 5, there were 1437 public schools in total in Istanbul. It is observable that the numbers of primary schools were 1383, and there was only 1 regional boarding primary school (YİBO). The total numbers of primary school students amounted to 1.647.095. According to numerical data published by MEM, the proportion of Turkish schools to the total number of private schools reached 81.7%. Furthermore, country-wide schooling rate was at 98.2% in the 2009-2010 school year compared to Istanbul with 99.7%.

Quantitative Development of Primary Education between 1950 - 2012 in Istanbul

The Rapid quantitative development continued within the field of primary education in conjunction with the accession of the Democrat Party to power. However, there occurred several positive and negative developments regarding quality and quantity as well.

i) Infrastructure Problem in Schooling the Young Population and the Quality of Education

One of the main targets shaping the education policies of the Republic’s governments included schooling the entire population with primary education. The emergence of a disproportionate development between the population and infrastructure in the country engendered the following two problems: insufficient number of schools/ classes and teacher deficit. Since the 1950s Istanbul has continually experienced the first of these problems as opposed to the second problem, which was occasionally experienced.

Table 6 demonstrates that primary schools in Istanbul in the 2011-2012 school year were in a worse condition in terms of the number of students per school, class, branch and teacher compared to the country’s average. An extra 14 students were included in each class in Istanbul compared to the country’s average. On the other hand, the student-teacher ratio stood at an extra 6.

There were 44 students per class in primary schools of Istanbul according to data from the 2011-2012 school year. As the internationally-accepted ideal number of students is 24 in the present day, there was an extra 20 students per class in primary schools of Istanbul. Likewise, classes in primary schools of Istanbul were more crowded than the average in Turkey. Each class accommodates 30 students in primary education in the country. Interestingly enough, there was an extra 14 student per class in Istanbul compared to the average in Turkey in contrast to Ankara and İzmir with a class quantity average below Istanbul’s.

In summary, a substantial number of classes in primary schools of Istanbul were more crowded compared to other provincial centers between 2000-2010. This situation froze all the measures taken for improving education quality.

ii) Rising Discrepancy in Opportunity and Facilities in Schools

Overpopulation in primary education in Istanbul has resulted in differences, which have had an impact on school quality within the province. These differences abound between towns experiencing divergent processes in terms of private and public schools, and emigration and/or population increase. As seen in Table 6, the number of students per class and teacher in public primary schools stands at 3.2 times as more than in private schools. This varies depending on the qualities of districts where public schools are located.

Data from the table suggest that there are big discrepancies in the number of students per unit between districts experiencing rapid population increase owing to emigration and/or birth and districts with a stagnant population increase. To exemplify, the number of students per class in Esenler stands at around 79 compared to the provincial average of 49 students. Bağcılar, Gaziosmanpaşa and Bayrampaşa accommodate more than 60 students per class. In addition, 50 students per class are provided with education in Bahçelievler, Eyüp, Küçükçekmece and Zeytinburnu. There is no doubt that quality of education cannot be ensured in such crowded classes with students twice as many than the designated ideal number of students per class.

Nevertheless, the situation looked much graver ten/ fifteen years ago. On the eve of the twentieth century, Istanbul experienced a population increase of 400.000 in Istanbul every year. 2000 classes were required per year for the schooling of the population. Ömer Balıbey, as the Provincial Director of National Education, conducted successful donation campaigns during these years. The construction of schools and classes has continued until today despite some delays. However, the problem could not be solved in its entirety.

In the meantime, the Ministry of National Education decided to channel a considerable amount of the investments made in Istanbul following the 1999 Marmara earthquake to reinforce existing schools against earthquakes and reconstruct those in terrible conditions. For this reason, spatial problems could not be solved until the 2010s.

In present day, the success ratings of all levels of schools in Turkey are performed, as in all developed countries, according to the results of objective national examinations. To this end, a Placement Test (SBS) was conducted in Turkey. In view of the aforementioned negative factors, Istanbul did not rank in the top in this exam. In fact, according to an inter-school ranking, Istanbul contained most of those top-rankers among the first 100 schools. The abovementioned situation is caused by the discrepancy in the quality of schools in Istanbul.

As of the 2013-2014 school year, the Ministry of National Education started performing central examinations under the name of ‘’Transition from Primary to Secondary Education’’ (TEOG) replacing the Placement Test (SBS). The Ministry asserts that the TOGEM system will strengthen the school/teacher/ student relationship; the curriculum will be implemented all around the country simultaneously; it will be less stressful for students, and that the need for inclining to extra-school education institutions will decrease.

Structural Developments In the School System between 1950 - 2012

There have been constant changes in the Turkish primary and secondary education system in terms of curriculum and levelling. Levelling of the primary and secondary education was adjusted according to the 5+3+3 principle whereas this principle was altered to 8+3 or 8+3+4. This system was shortly switched to the principle of 4+4+4 in 2012. Different types of schools germinated during this process. For instance, schools previously serving as primary schools were transformed into secondary or high schools or vice versa. Therefore, it is a necessity to assess data relating to primary and secondary education in Istanbul according to the period in question.

The secondary level of the İmam Hatip Schools were closed on 28 February 1997. During the levelling process of primary and secondary education, this level of education at the Imam Hatip schools were reopened. 39 İmam Hatip High Schools (5 of which are Anadolu İmam Hatip Schools) commenced education in Istanbul in the course of this process. A total of 46.280 students were enrolled in these schools while 1.973 teachers provided the education.

Secondary Education

In the present-day Turkish education system, secondary education is categorized as an education level encompassing all general, vocational and technical education institutions (based on primary education) providing at least 4 years of education. Nonetheless, it should be clarified that the secondary education was subject to some significant changes in terms of its organization, objectives and tasks throughout the Republican period. The most important of these changes is that the secondary schools (established as of the declaration of the Republic as the equivalent of Ottoman High Schools constituting the first level of secondary education in the Ottoman education system) were included within the scope of 8-year-long primary education enacted as per the Fundamental Law for National Education (METK) in 1973. Following this regulation, secondary education turned into a secondary level education comprised of high schools.

Since the Tanzimat (the Reforms), a different mission was attributed to secondary education (copied from Western countries) in Turkey aiming at constructing a modern society and state within fifty years. This mission was to create an intellectual/ elite class by means of preparing primary school graduates to higher education and/or life and equipping them with general knowledge in contemporary terms. In Atatürk’s Turkey, an underdeveloped and agricultural country with a literacy rate of 20% at the primary level, was a country which was trying to join the successfully-industrialized Western civilization through a series of reforms/ revolutions and this mission was to be actualized by means of educating ‘’the elite class of the Republican generation’’ as in Hasan Ali Yücel’s words. During the era of Prime Minister İnönü when Yücel served as the Minister of Education, the Board of Education defined this mission as educating an intellectual class.

This class held utmost importance for Atatürk and his team since it was going to constitute the backbone of the Republican regime. In fact, they maintained an attitude towards high schools similar to that of the Ottoman statesmen who regarded high schools as the sum and substance of Ottomanism during Tanzimat. It was regarded as possessing a critical role by the state and the secondary education institutions were also well-respected by the society since these schools provided employment both in civilian and military bureaucracy in a country where non-agricultural economic activity and employment were extremely limited. As a result, during the Atatürk era these schools were pounced upon by students arriving from other cities which were without these educational institutions. Istanbul was one of the most student-receiving cities from rural areas during these years. The existing nine high schools in the city were unable to respond to the demand of all of the boarding students coming from other provinces in the 1936-37 school year. Maintaining/ improving the quality in the policy of secondary education institutions, assigned with the mission of educating an elite/intellectual class, was preferred to quantity. No new high schools were opened until the conditions developed. Therefore, the number of public high schools rose only from 23 to 36 between the 1923-24 and 1935-36 school years. Moreover, the number of girls’ high schools decreased. However, the policy change, commencing with trainer courses in primary education during the Culture (education) ministry of Saffet Arıkan (1935-38), was reflected in secondary education as well, and raising the schooling levels was adopted as a principle. Increasing the schooling levels to those of developed countries became an unwavering political goal of the government during the multi-party period. As a result of these policies, high schools started to spread to town centers as of the 2010-2011 school year. Schooling of the population at the secondary education level escalated to 67%. In the last fifty years, the mission of education has transformed in rapidly-developing Turkey where a generation experienced three historical social stages (agriculture, industry and information) simultaneously. Expected to educate the elite/ intellectual class of the country since the Tanzimat, secondary education institutions transformed into schools providing mass education with 3/4 of the school-age population. By defining the goals and tasks of secondary education as equipping the students with the necessary knowledge, skills, attitude and values expected to be possessed by an active individual/citizen, and preparing them for life and their occupations or higher education, the Fundamental Law for National Education legalized the mission change which was engendered by overall development in the country. The aforementioned law included the right to education, equality of possibility and opportunity among the main principles of the national education system, and stipulated that the education level of all citizens be increased to the utmost in accordance with their interests and skills. In the next forty years followed by the enforcement of the law, Turkey managed to school 33% of the higher-education population in parallel with the social and economic developments. As a consequence, higher education was endowed with a mass education quality as in other developed countries.

As per the Fundamental Law for National Education, secondary education is comprised of high schools implementing assorted programmes. Schools laying weight on such a certain programme are called high schools even though some of these schools provide subject-specific education such as agriculture and technical knowledge. Multi-programme high schools incorporating general, vocational and technical secondary education programmes can be constructed in locations with sparse and scattered populations, if considered necessary by the Ministry of National Education. Istanbul is one of the leading provinces with an increasing number and variety of secondary institutions in terms of quantitative and qualitative indicators in Turkey.

General Secondary Education

The general secondary education in present-day Turkish education is defined as the educational process preparing students for higher education and/or future in accordance with their interests, demands and skills as well as endowing them with general knowledge through a minimum of four-year education based on primary education.

Secondary Education Reform: From Sultanî to High School

The establishing will of the Republic assigned secondary education institutions- as touched upon above- with educating an elite/ intellectual class internalizing the values of the new regime and determined to protect it against all kinds of dangers. Despite the inclusion of a clause stipulating the official religion of the country as Islam in Teşkilât-ı Esasiye (the Constitution), the new Turkish country was being constructed as a secular republic. It was not possible for the Ottoman-style secondary education institutions to perform the abovementioned responsibility. Therefore, the Republican governments implemented a series of reforms in order to render secondary education suitable for the regime. First and foremost, secondary education institutions were stripped off the name sultanî with reference to the sultan as the symbol of the old regime in conformity with the Republican policy of breaking all ties with the sultanate, and were named lise (lycee in French meaning high school) instead. This word was borrowed from the French language, which shaped the Ottoman education system with Maarif-i Umumiyye Nizamnâmesi (Regulation for Public Education) in 1869.

France was utilized as a model for not only changing school names but also developing programmes during the restructuring of secondary education. France had rendered education obligatory and free through laws legislated during its third Republican period (1881, 1882, and 1904) and had omitted religious education from schools and closed all institutions providing religious education. Despite the fact that Turkey experienced a chronologically different process compared to France, it executed nearly the same programme in terms of aim, scope and method while secularizing its secondary education. Actualized during the first years of the Republic and noted as one of the most significant breaking points of Turkish educational history, this programme was composed of the following stages:

Termination of Religion Courses

Published in 1924, the high school curriculum did not allocate space for religion courses included in the curriculum of all secondary education institutions since the Tanzimat. In the textbook titled History IV, The Ministry of Education (Maarif Vekaleti) explained the reasoning behind this practice as leaving religious education up to ‘’the individual and his/her family’’ in order to realize the principle of ‘’conscience liberty’’. Subsequent to the transition to the multi-party regime in the country, high schools constituted the institutions in which religious education were the last to be revived (1967-68).

ii. Closure of Schools with Religious Education

The Law for the Unification of Education (Tevhid-i Tedrisat Kanunu) put all schools under the administration, observation and control of the Ministry of National Education. Furthermore, it stipulated the opening of İmam Hatip Schools to educate qualified personnel required for the execution of religious services such as imamate, preaching managed by medreses (madrasas in Arabic) up till the adoption of the law.

Following the enforcement of the law, 29 İmam and Hatip schools were opened all around the country. In the meantime, all medreses were closed based upon the fact that there was no need for these institutions. Nonetheless, a great majority of the newly-opened schools was closed under the pretext of insufficient demand. In the 1926-27 school year, there stood a total of two schools in Istanbul and Kütahya, which were ultimately abrogated in the 1929-1930 school year.

As per the Law for the Unification of Education, Istanbul İmam Hatip School was opened for educating imams and preachers. The Education Authority regarded these as vocational schools. With a four-year education following primary school, these schools were not equivalent to high schools as other vocational schools. For this reason, the graduates were not able to move on to the university level. These schools utilized the infrastructure of Darülhilafe madrasas. Istanbul İmam Hatip School operated first in the Tophane Madrasa in Fatih and then in the building of the Medresetü’l-Mütehassısîn (The Graduate School for Professional Excellence) during the reign of Sultan Selim. For their length of education, they had a somewhat heavy curriculum. With the projection to be accredited as a high school, they aimed at providing a source for the Faculty of Theology at the present-day Istanbul University. While there were activities to this end, both of the schools were closed at an interval of three years (1930, 1933). As a result, there existed no educational institutions accommodating religious education in Turkey except for primary schools in villages, and Turkey witnessed the emergence of a secular education model without religious education similar to that of the 3rd Republican France, which had a deep impact on the Turkish revolution.

iii. Termination of Arabic and Persian Language Courses

Construction of a ‘’national culture’’ on which a nation-state would rise constituted one of the ultimate goals of the Turkish revolution. Language and history studies undertaken by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in person were directed at realizing this goal. It was expected to have a Turkish language cleansed from the effects of foreign languages by means of language studies as much as possible. This was one of the most important stages to which the language movement had reached since its emergence in Tanzimat. The Republic not only changed the language of the empire (Ottoman Language) but also desired to remove the Arabic and Persian influence from Turkish. This resulted in the elimination of Arabic and Persian language courses. Doubtlessly, this practice was influenced by the policy to distance Turkey from its 1000-year relationship with the Islamic world so as to reinforce secularization.

iv. Secularization of Foreign and Minority Schools

These schools started to be distrusted as a consequence of their actions and attitudes, defying state authority in the Ottoman Empire and even supporting subversive and separatist activities. Inasmuch as the fact that they possessed the same status as other schools administered under the Ministry of Education, this atmosphere of distrust persisted following the declaration of the Republic. Counter-practices of these schools against the aim of unity in sentiment and thought stipulated by the Law for the Unification of Education caused the intensification of this atmosphere. Preservation of religious rituals and symbols by these foreign schools, particularly established as missionary schools, was found unacceptable. Ultimately the Education Authority took action to implement tight control over these schools and implement the principles of the Republic. Students were banned to use religious symbols and wear religious outfits. Religious preaching was disallowed as well. Two American colleges, one of which was located in Göztepe, were closed on the grounds of missionary activities. These precautions resulted in political tensions between Turkey and some Western countries; however, Turkey resolutely continued its secular education policy in these schools as in public schools.

Early Republican Period

Serving as the political, economic and cultural center of its immediate and remote abroad throughout its history, Istanbul preserved this feature during the modernization period of Turkey. Istanbul accommodated the first modern schools and similar examples of these even before the Tanzimat. For instance, the Mekteb-i Sultanî and the first boys’ high school came into being in this city (in 1868, 1874 respectively). Both the boys’ high schools and the sultani high schools occupied a special place among educational institutions inherited by the Republic from the Ottoman Empire. Likewise, the most developed vocational, industrial and technical schools were situated in Istanbul as well. During the establishment of the Republic, the Ottoman heritage supported it to be at the top of the field with regard to secondary education. In the 1926-27 school year, 34 (65.3%) out of 55 general high schools in Turkey were located in Istanbul (Graphic 1). Moreover, teachers serving at these schools constituted 76.5% of the country total whereas 73.5% of the students were enrolled in these schools (Table 7). Without a doubt, high schools in Istanbul stood among the most prominent educational institutions in terms of both quality and quantity.

Graphic 1: Distribution of high schools in the 1926-1927 school year in Türkiye

When general schools were classified in terms of various features, the distribution of these schools reflected the Ottoman education system. In the 1926-1927 school year when Mustafa Necati Bey served as the Minister of Education, 28 (82.3%) out of 34 general high schools were comprised of private educational institutions including foreign and minority schools. Students enrolled in these schools (n:1564) constituted 67.3% of all high school students (n: 2322) in Istanbul while comprising of 49.5% of the total number of high school students in the country. Private high schools in Istanbul had a considerable weight in the country since Istanbul harboured 28 of 33 private high schools, which contained 97.5% of private high school students (Table 7).

Graphic 2: Distribution of private high schools in the 1937-1938 school year in Istanbul

Distribution of private high schools in Istanbul (bearing such weight in the secondary education level during the first years of the Republic) according to school type was similar to the projection of the new Ottoman education system since the Tanzimat. Likewise, private high schools consisted of three different school groups classified as (i) Private Turkish high schools, (ii) minority high schools and (iii) foreign high schools. Private Turkish high schools were opened by private entrepreneurs. Minority high schools were opened by the Jewish, Greek and Armenian minorities whereas foreign high schools were opened by certain foreign countries or their citizens in the empire, and gained an international legal status thanks to the Lausanne Treaty.

As of the 1937-1938 school year, there were 24 schools with a private school status in Istanbul: 4 private Turkish high schools, 9 minority high schools, 11 foreign high schools. Minority schools included 1 Jewish, 5 Greek and 3 Armenian high schools; however, there was no other minority high school in another province. There were 2 German, 3 American, 5 French and 1 Italian high school. Except for Izmir and Tarsus American High Schools, all foreign high schools were situated in Istanbul (Graphic 2). Target-audience of minority schools included the youth of three non-Muslim communities accepted as minority thanks to the Lausanne Treaty. Accordingly, since the Tanzimat the foreign high schools were ideal schools to which modern, educated and wealthy families desired to send their children. This popularity was determined by the social status and credit of these schools as well as their performance in education, the international validity and functionality of foreign languages taught.

In addition, 9 public high schools held more strategic significance in terms of macro benefits expected from general secondary education institutions. The most important cause for the above situation was that these schools played a critical role in the schooling of the school-age population in the country, and that they made remarkable contributions in assisting the education policy to reach all socio-cultural groups and the remotest spots in the country. These high schools not only increased the schooling level in the province but also provided an education opportunity with hundreds of boarding students arriving from the rural areas. Students coming from the countryside in the years following the declaration of the Republic were mostly enrolled in Istanbul Boys High School and Kabataş Boys High School. In the 1934-35 school year, this duty was devolved to Haydarpaşa High School replacing the historical Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Şâhâne (The Ottoman Medical School). All students studying on the European side of the city were transferred to this school. Within a short time, it ranked among the most qualified high schools in the city and it increased its student number to 2210 at an approximate rate of 100% accordingly. The significance of the high schools in Istanbul did not only stem from its contributions to the schooling of high-school-age population in the country. More importantly, high schools in Istanbul, a historical city with a mesmerizing natural beauty and serving as the doorstep of the country to the world, were highly-demanded schools based on sui generis reasons.

There occurred some changes in the number of public high schools in Istanbul during Atatürk’s era. Some high schools were closed down- reopened subsequently- despite their activity for a certain period of time. These schools included the Kandilli Girls’ High School, the Bezmiâlem Girls’ High School, the Nişantaşı Girls’ High School, the Çamlıca Girls’ High School and the Üsküdar Boys’ High School. Public high schools active in the 1937-38 school year were as follows: the Pertevniyal High School, the Galatasaray High School, the Vefa High School, the Istanbul High School, the Kabataş High School, the Istanbul Girls High School, the Erenköy Girls High School, the Kandilli Girls High School and the Haydarpaşa High School. With magnificent buildings, powerful institutional traditions and prominent teachers, these high schools provided not only a formal but also an effective informal education environment for students regarded as the building blocks of the elite/ intellectual class of the Republic.

It should be, however, indicated that this education was centred in Istanbul as a whole since the city constituted a school in which ‘’Istanbul Turkish’’, suggested by Ismail Gaspıralı as the common dialect of all Turks, was spoken; the modern and the traditional developed hand in hand as perfectly depicted in Peyami Safa’s novel called Fatih Harbiye; Western and Eastern cultures were collated; the most didactic examples of the multicultural lives of social groups with different religions and languages existed. The most developed form of the Ottoman/ Turkish culture was rooted here. For this reason, Istanbul served as a suitable environment for socializing, modernizing and getting to know the civilized world, for both the high-schoolers from the countryside and for the university students. Educated in the abovementioned prominent schools, the students had the chance to work as self-confident, entrepreneurial and creative individuals in such an environment. During the presidency of İsmet İnönü (1938-1950), the importance of secondary education started decreasing in Istanbul. As seen in Table 7, the total number of high schools in Turkey rose by 10% between 1939-40 and 1949-1950 school years whereas a decrease emerged in the number of Istanbul high schools at the same rate. This decrease was also observed in the number of teachers and students. Nevertheless, an interesting development transpired in this period. Although there was a rise in the number of schools and teachers, the total number of high school students in the country decreased by 18.3%. This development might have been caused by long-years of war-economy conditions in the country as well as the designation of secondary education as a tool for constructing the Republican elite class.

One of the most critical developments in this period was the opening of a Classical Branch other than the existing Science and Literature Branches at some high schools within the framework of Hasan Ali Yücel’s ‘’humanist education’’ policy. The Galatasaray High School was one of the schools which implemented this practice. This class provided 5-hour Latin classes per week alongside another Western language. The Classical Branch was closed in 1949; however, Latin classes were registered as electives in large high schools such as the Istanbul Boys High School in 1950s. In a period when Turkey was transitioning to the multi-party political system and public demands were taken into consideration by the politicians, the closure of the Classical Branch served as a precursor to subsequent education policies.

Democratic Multi - Party Period

From multiple aspects, 1950 stands as one of the most important turning points in the Republic’s history. In the new period commencing with Democrat Party’s accession to power, Turkey’s transition from an agricultural society to an industrial society led to great changes in the social, economic and cultural structure of the country. This process was reflected in Istanbul in the form of a developing commerce and industry, excessive population growth, irregular urbanization etc. Istanbul’s population rose by 9 times during an approximate 60-year period, which served as one of the most significant factors shaping secondary education in terms of both quantity and quality as in other levels of education. Likewise, it had remained an unsolved problem for governments and education managers to figure out how to school the young population brought by the migration flow from rural areas to Istanbul. It is for this very reason that projects aimed at expanding the infrastructure constituted a large part of the investments (Table 8). Nonetheless, this growth brought about the following results within the context of quantity-quality dilemma:

1) Rapid developments in the demography of Istanbul shaped the quantitative development and distribution of education institutions. As of 1950, the population of Istanbul grew 11.6 times larger whereas there was a 16.6 and 59.1 times larger increase in the number of general high schools and students respectively (Table 8). This disproportionate rise caused a significant school/class deficit. As in primary education, a great amount of energy and resources were channelled into constructing schools/classes in secondary education; however, the demand of the snowball effect could not be met. As a result of this, Istanbul had the most crowded general high schools except for the South-eastern Anatolian provinces in the 2011-12 school year. The average number of students per class in general high schools amounted to 32 in the country whereas this number stood at 42 in Southeast Anatolia and 28 in Istanbul. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that this problem was not equally experienced in all districts/ schools of Istanbul.

2) The disproportionate increase in the number of schools, teachers and students in Istanbul deepened quantitative differentiation among general high schools. As observed from the most objective performance indicator- YGS (Exam for Transition to Higher Education-, the most successful high schools are concentrated in 9 districts-existing in present-day Istanbul- on which the city has been rising since 1950. Established as of the abovementioned year, some neighbourhoods of these districts contain 20% of the provincial population. It is also observed that 30 districts consisting of nearly 80% of the population are influenced by demographic tsunami in education as well as in many other fields. In parallel with the recent urbanization strategy, considerably qualified/ successful high schools are located in contemporary residences built in these districts; however, it should be pointed out that successful high schools in central/ historical districts are constituted by public high schools as opposed to the new districts with private high schools.

3) There occurred an increase in the number of various types of general high schools within the fifty years. Classified as public and private high schools during the first years of the Republic, general high schools cover high schools today. Structured as a 3-year-long education following secondary education as of the declaration of the Republic, education period of general high schools was increased to 4 years between 1951-1954, and remained a three-year-long education until 2005. Nevertheless, this period of study was gradually increased to 4 years in 2005. The main educational distinction between these institutions is that their programmes lay weight on a certain subject field (social sciences, nature sciences, fine arts etc.).

As observed from Table 9, there were a total of 296 public general high schools in Istanbul in the 2011-12 school year. General High Schools constitute 50% (n:148) of these schools which include Anatolian High Schools with a share of 44% (n:132), and other schools with a share of 6% such as the Anatolian Teacher’s High School (n:6), the Science High Schools (n:4), the High Schools for Music and Stage Arts (n:2), the Anatolian Fine Arts High School (n:1), the Fine Arts and Sports High School (n:1), the Social Sciences High School (n:1) and the Sports High School (n:1). 298.731 students are enrolled in these schools, and the number of students per class amount to approximately 42. Nearly 12.000 teachers serve in public general high schools, and each teacher provide education with an average of 25 students. Based on these factors, it is clear that there is a deep gulf between public and private high schools, which are more advantageous.

Unfortunately, there was a slow quantitative rise in private education institutions in Istanbul and the rest of the country alike. In the 2011-2012 school year, private high schools occupied only 15% of the total. Private high schools were much more advantageous than public schools in terms of the number of schools, classes, teachers and students. In public high schools, there were 42 students per class compared to private high schools with 14 students. The number of students per teacher amounted to 1/3 of that of private high schools (Table 9, 10). This situation creates a serious advantage for an improvement in the quality of education in private high schools.

Private general secondary schools are categorized into three groups. Turkish secondary education institutions constitute the first group with a number of 284 institutions (92.8% of the total 306 private education institutions). The most common of these institutions are as follows: The Private Evening High School (n:61), the Private Anatolian High School (n:90), the Private High School for Nature Sciences (n:45), the Private General High School (n:27) and the Private Anatolian High School with a Preparatory Class (n:50). The remaining groups cover the secondary education institutions for minorities (n:10), the foreign secondary education institutions (n:11) and the private international education institutions respectively. In terms of the number of institutions, 50% of general secondary education institutions in Istanbul have the status of private secondary education institutions; however, the number of students at these institutions amount to approximately 15% of the total number of students in private secondary education institutions. This estimate demonstrates the share of private education institutions in a metropolis like Istanbul as well.

The Origins of Turkish High Schools

The pioneer of present-day high schools is the Mekteb-i Sultani namely the Galatasaray High School, which was opened in 1868. This was followed by high schools which were the continuation of high schools in 1874. The last group includes the successors of the sultani high schools opened during the 2nd Constitutional Monarchy period. Approximately 80% of high schools were comprised of these during Atatürk’s era. In the following lines, brief information will be provided on the shining stars of Istanbul’s education history during the Republican era: the Galatasaray, the Vefa, the Istanbul Boys High School, the Pertevniyal and the Kabataş High School.

Galatasaray High School

Established in the fifteenth century, the Galata School existed as a sub-unit of the most important institution of the palace education (Enderun Mektebi) until mid-nineteenth century. The need for educating junior and senior civil servants, bureaucrats increased in the middle (1868) of Tanzimat period when Turkey started modernizing rapidly. In order to appeal to the Ottoman people and thus assist in the Ottomanist ideology to spread under the influence of the French minister of education, a school under the name of Mekteb-i Sultani was opened. It is clear that this school did not have anything to do with the previous institution standing there, and was not the continuation of it either. French education and culture have had a heavy impact on the school, which still continues.

Starting education under the name of Galatasaray High School in 1924 and in line with the Republican reforms, the school started accepting female students in 1965. Its status was changed to Anatolian High School in 1975 and the period of education was designated as 8 years. Through the protocol signed between François Mitterand and Turgut Özal on 14 April 1992, the Galatasaray Education Institution (GEÖK) was brought into practice and covered primary/ university education as well. It provides education at three levels in the present-day; the language of the education is French, however, English and Italian language classes are also taught. At the beginning of 2013, a principal, a head assistant, seven principal assistants and 58 teachers held office at the school. It is also the most influential secondary education institution with its graduates in terms of contributing to the birth of modern Turkey and its development.

Vefa High School

It was opened in 1872 as the first civil high school providing education in Turkish under the name of Vefa Mektebi. Upon its opening, it operated under Mekteb-i Mülkiye. It turned into an independent school and took the name of İdadî-i Mülkî-i Şâhâne in 1886. It was upgraded to Sultani high school status under the name of Vefa Mekteb-i Sultanîsi in the 1913-14 school year, and started to serve with primary, secondary and high school education. Named after Vefa Erkek Lisesi (Vefa Boys High School) in 1925, the school became a high school again in 1933 although it operated under the status of secondary school in the building of the School of Pharmacy in Kadırga. Until its status change to Anatolian High School in 1990, the school incorporated both the secondary and high school levels. Providing education at the Mütercim Rüştü Pasha’s Mansion for a long period, the Vefa High School moved to the building used as Teacher’s High School in 1937. Following its transfer to Çapa in 1949, the school increased its capacity and started education in two buildings. The first Evening High School was opened in 1958 as a part of the Vefa High School. In 1978, the Vefa Evening High School was transferred to the Pertevniyal High School. It took the name of the Vefa Anatolian High School in 1989. Preserving its last status, the school was named Vefa High School by omitting the word ‘’Anatolian’’. In the 2012-13 school year, there were a principal, 3 deputy principals, 54 teachers and 709 students.

Istanbul Boys High School

Numune-i Terakki, one of the first private schools opened by Mehmet Nadir Bey (retired lieutenant) in 1884, constitutes the basis of Istanbul High School. The Ministry of Education purchased and nationalized the school in 1896. Named Istanbul Leylî İdadîsi in 1909, the school provided education in the building constructed upon the request of Bezm-i Âlem Sultan behind the Mausoleum of Sultan Mahmud. In 1913 the school was named Istanbul Sultanîsi. The school possessed a primary, a secondary and a high school. French high school curriculum was implemented during these years.

The school was transferred to the building of Saint-Benoit in 1914. In 1917, it was decided that the school should provide education in German. 22 German teachers were brought from Germany. All subjects were taught in German except for literature and history. Although the school moved to Münir Pasha Mansion in Saraçhane in 1919, it was transferred to Mercan Sultanisi in a short time. In 1923, it was given the name ‘’Istanbul Boys High School’’ and transferred to Fuat Pasha Mansion in Beyazıt in 1933. Despite the closure of its boarding section in 1934, it was reopened in 1958. The school started education in German within the framework of the Culture Agreement between Federal Germany and Turkey in 1957. The present-day building of Istanbul Boys High School was used as Düyun-ı Umûmiye (Ottoman Public Debt Administration). The building was constructed in 1897 by the French architect Alexandre Vallaury. It has neo-classical features and serves as one of the most important architectural works in Istanbul. In the 2012-2013 school year, a Turkish principal, a German department head, 3 deputy principals, 40 Turkish teachers, and 34 German teachers held office. There were also 900 students enrolled in the school.

Pertevniyal High School

Mahmudiye Mektebi was constructed in 1872 upon the order of Sultan Abdülaziz’s mother, Pertevniyal Valide Sultan, intending for a mosque constructed in her name and a school in the name of her spouse, Sultan Mahmud II. The present-day high school buildings are unfortunately not the originals.

Mahmudiye Mektebi burnt down in the fire of Aksaray in 1911, and a road was constructed on its building land thereof. For this reason, the school continued its educational activities in a mansion near Sinekli Bakkal under the name of Mahmudiye Rüştiyesi. In 1930, the Trustee Osman Bey constructed a 17-room school using reinforced concrete. The school commenced its activities in the present-day school building embodying a secondary and high school, and its name was changed to Pertevniyal High School. Public work and housing of the district underwent considerable changes owing to an increase in the number of students. As of the 1962-1963 school year, the school started to implement double-education. Serving with 52 classes between these years, 8 classes from Pertevniyal High School were transferred to Oruçgazi Primary School.

An Ottoman Archive was installed in the Aksaray campus of Pertevniyal High School. Nevertheless, the Pertevniyal High School was re-granted its high school status following various efforts and has been serving as an Anatolian High School since 1998. A principal, a head vice-principal, two vice-principals and 47 teachers currently hold office at the school.

Kabataş Boys High School

The Kabataş Boys High School was established in the Esma Sultan Mansion situated in the Kabataş district with the name Kabataş Mekteb-i İdadîsi under the administration of the first principal, Hasan Tahsin (Ayni) Bey in 1908, and started its education life with 7 classes and 276 students in 1909.

The school was turned into a sultani with 12 classes in 1913 and named Kabataş Mekteb-i Sultanîsi. The Boarding section of the school was opened in 1919. It was named Kabataş Boys High School in the 1923-24 school year, and its first part was closed in 1925. This high school moved to the Feriye Palaces which had been prepared as summer residences for the sultan’s kith and kin in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Beşiktaş Secondary school was annexed, as a guesthouse, to Kabataş Boys High School, which had a secondary school closed in 1942. 42 female students were enrolled in the school in 1979. The female students were transferred to Beşiktaş Girls School after a year of education at Kabataş. The school incorporated a gender-mixed education and started implementing a curriculum under the name of Foreign-Language Intensive High School. An English preparatory class was opened.

Serving under the status of Anatolian High School as of the 1998-1999 school year, Kabataş Boys High School currently accommodates a principal, 3 vice-principals and 60 teachers. An approximate number of 700 students are enrolled in the school. Nearly 250 students are enrolled as boarding students. The school has a male and female boarding section.

Vocational and Technical Secondary Education

In present-day Turkey, vocational and technical secondary education is categorized as an educational process endowing student with general knowledge through a four-year primary education and preparing them for higher education and/or occupation/ future and professions in accordance with their demands and skills.

The foundations of the present-day vocational and technical education institutions were laid subsequent to the Tanzimat. Male and female youth detention centres, opened by Midhat Pasha who aimed at rehabilitating and providing children in need of protection with professions in Tuna province, can be accepted as the first examples of formal vocational education institutions. These schools were later transformed into schools of industry. By paying utmost importance to vocational education, Sultan Abdülhamid II opened schools in assorted fields.

These schools were shaped according to the needs of the state and society: the School of Forestry, the School of Viticulture, the School of Sericulture, and the School of Commerce. Nevertheless, the primary goal of vocational education was to endow children (particularly orphans) in need of protection with profession until the declaration of the Republic. Thus, short-lived Darülhayr-ı Âlî opened in Istanbul by Abdülhamid II and names given to darüleytams (Ottoman orphanage) serving during Meşrutiyet and the Armistice reflected this perspective as well. The most developed/ well-known vocational school was the Mekteb-i Sanayi (School of Industry) located in Sultanahmet. Female schools of industry were opened in some provincial centers and districts of Istanbul during these years.

The 25-year-period following the establishment of the Republic can be regarded as a separate period due to its distinctive conditions/phenomena influential in shaping the vocational and technical education. Characteristics of this period continuing until the historical election in 1950 are as follows:

(i) a poor agrarian society that had not undergone any stages of the Industrial Revolution, (ii) a trade life concentrated on agriculture and the service sector in which the civilian/ military bureaucratic circles constituted sections of society with high purchasing power, (iii) a population comprised of 80% rural people, (iv) a super-structure revolution defined as ‘’obligatory cultural changes’’ by Mümtaz Turhan, (iii) an increasing but non-mobilized population. The MBI (Maslach Burnout Inventory) needed by such population is more or less clear: producing the goods and services required in daily life.

When the Republic was declared, there were 64 secondary vocational and technical education schools. 583 teachers (81 female) held office, and 1375 female students (out of 6547 students) were enrolled in these schools. There were no teacher training schools for vocational and technical education in the country either. Significant steps were taken towards improving vocational and technical secondary education during Atatürk’s era. The most important of these are: (i) importing foreign experts in order to benefit from their views, observation and suggestions, (ii) send students abroad for the purpose of educating experts or teachers for the country; (iii) to develop schools in terms of quantity and quality; and (iv) to open boys and girls training schools for technical teaching. Within the scope of these activities, some teachers and/or students from schools in Istanbul were sent abroad. In the 1926-27 school year when Mustafa Necati Bey held office as the Minister of Education, there were only 9 public vocational and technical education school. A total of 199 teachers provided education at these institutions, and 1871 students were enrolled.

Towards the end of Atatürk’s era (1937-1938), Istanbul accommodated 13 public secondary vocational and technical schools with 242 teachers and 2214 students.

Upon close examination of these schools, it is clear that a noteworthy industrialization process had not started in Istanbul because none of these schools served the purpose of training labourers for the industrial fields.

On the other hand, there occurred a quantitative development in vocational and technical education in Istanbul as CHP’s 22-year-long power came to a halt in the 1950-51 school year. The number of secondary vocational and technical schools rose to 26. The number of teachers and students increased to 581 and 7792 respectively.

Between 1950-1970 when industrialization kicked off through private sector investments and emigrations broke out in parallel, the speed of development escalated slightly more in vocational and technical education (Table 12). As of 1970s in which emigration waves put Istanbul under intensive pressure, and masses of people wishing to guarantee their future accumulated in the slums of the city, the interest in these schools intensified. Transformation of art institutes into vocational high schools and emergence of an opportunity for graduates to attend university rendered these schools more appealing. Parents’ attitude summarized with the statement ‘’my offspring will have a profession if s/he fails to study’’ had a determinant influence on student choices. The value of a programme in the eyes of young people and their families was in direct proportion to the income and social status of an occupation. Therefore, the department/programme had as much importance as the school.

There was requirement to take an entrance exam for these vocational high schools, and the most preferred programmes had the highest entrance scores. The most preferred schools/programmes in the second half of 1970s were as follows: the Maçka Industrial and Vocational High School (Electric-Electronics); the Şişli High School for Automotive (Machinery, Engine); the Istanbul High School for Construction (Machine design); and the Haydarpaşa Industrial and Vocational High School (Electric, Electronic). The educational and professional history of the graduates might have had an impact on their school and programme preferences. The changing circumstances also changed the income and status of professions, which affected vocational preferences. Placement data for the 2012 SBS exams demonstrate that school/programme preferences of young people changed within the past 20-30 years. As a matter of fact, none of the programmes making it into the top 50 programmes that admitted students with base points consisted of 1970s popular professions. 45 out of 50 programmes included various fields in health; 4 of these were in the field of informatics; and 1 programme was in the field of justice. Fields that seemed to be less problematic in terms of employment constituted the most preferred fields.

As observed from Table 12, there has been a much more rapid development in quantitative development in vocational and technical education in Istanbul since the 1970s. A comparison of data from 2011-12 and 1969-70 show that the number of schools, teachers and students rose 5.4, 9.9 and 21.4 times respectively. More strikingly, fields within vocational and technical education were renewed and increased in parallel with economical and technological developments on a domestic and an international scale.

As seen in Table 13, there are 289 secondary level vocational and technical educational institutions in Istanbul as of the 2011-2012 school year. The Industrial Vocational High School (n:64), the Vocational High School of Commerce (n:58) and the İmam Hatip High School (n:36) rank in the top three. Historical foundations of some of these schools date back to the Tanzimat. The evolution of this programme is concretized by the following two sample institutions.

Pioneering High Schools of Vocational and Technical Education

he most historical rooted vocational and technical high schools of Turkey are located in Istanbul as well. Opened during the Ottoman era, some of these schools played a critical role in the development of vocational and technical education. On the other hand, they performed a historical mission in national development with their qualified graduates. Approximately all 312 vocational/ technical high schools in 2012 contributed to the realization of the role and mission in question. However, high schools to be dealt with in this paper all established and developed other schools in their fields and deserve to occupy a prominent place in the history of Turkish education as pioneering schools providing human resources.

Here follow schools to be covered based on their date of establishment: Kuruluş: (i) The Sultanahmet Technical, Vocational and Industrial High School, (ii) the Selçuk Girls Technical and Vocational High School.

Sultanahmet Technical, Vocational and Industrial High School

Opened by Midhat Pasha under the name of Mekteb-i Sanayi [School of Industry] on 4 September 1868, the school is accepted as the first example of present-day Vocational-Technical Education since it was designed and organized based on youth detention centers opened by him in the Tuna province several years earlier. Its campus was constructed on formerly the land of Kılıçhane, which is adjacent to Sultanahmet Square. Machines, tools and equipment were imported from Europe for the training of various professions. As youth detention centers, this school had a circulation capital business as well. Furthermore, tolls earned from the Galata Bridge and some rent income was allocated for the school’s expenses. Upon the conversion of youth detention centers in the countryside into schools of industry during the reign of Abdülhamid II, the school was named Dersaadet Sanayi Mektebi (Istanbul School of Industry) and provided a five-year-long primary education. It provided education within fields such as lathing, levelling, carpentry, iron smithing and textiles. Children in need of protection were prioritized when regular and boarding students were admitted. The school underwent various difficulties during the WWI and the Armistice.

The authorities tried to reinforce the school as of the declaration of the Republic. It was supported with staff and equipment. Its name was changed as Sultanahmet Boys Art Institute in the 1942-43 school year. In the 1968-69 school year, the high school education period was regulated as 3 years following secondary education. It was named Vocational Industrial High School in the 1973-74 school year. The school was annexed with a Technical High School and Anatolian Technical High School in 1968 and 1990 respectively. These three schools are managed by the same administrative staff today. The following three programmes are conducted by these three schools: Information Technologies, Furniture and Interior Design Technologies, Electric-Electronic Technologies, Machinery Technologies, Arts and Design Technologies, Graphic and Photography Technologies.

Selçuk Girls Technical and Vocational School:

It was opened in Aksaray in 1873 under the name of Girls School of Industry [İnâs Mekteb-i Sanayisi]. It was named Istanbul Girls School of Industry in 1913. The education period was designated as 5 years of primary and 4 years of secondary education. In addition, it also served as a Mobile Class Evening Arts School (Seyyar Sınıf Akşam Sanat Okulu). In 1919, it was named after Bayezid II’s daughter, Selçuk Hatun. In the meantime, a teacher training class provided education for some time. In 1922, it moved to its present-day building constructed in place of the burnt-down Derviş Pasha Mansion in Çapa.

Subsequent to the declaration of the Republic, some precautions were taken for the development of the school. For instance, foreign experts were invited and students were sent abroad to obtain teaching training. As a school based on five-year primary education in 1928, it was named Selçuk Girls School of Arts. At the beginning of the 1932-33 school year, it was endowed with the name Selçuk Girls Institute for Arts.

The primary level of the school was closed in the 1964-1965 school year, and it was decided that it would provide a three-year secondary education. The school was converted into a Girls Vocational School in the 1974-75 school year and named Selçuk Girls Vocational School. Following the opening of the first Food Technology class of the country in the 1981-1982 school year, a school-industry cooperation project was implemented. It was annexed to the Anatolian Girls Vocational School in the 1999-2000 school year. The 2003-2004 school year witnessed mixed education at the school whose name was changed to Selçuk Anatolian Vocational and Vocational High School. In the 2008-2009 school year, the school’s name changed again to Selçuk Girls Technical and Vocational High School.

Programmes taught in 2010 are as follows: (i) Information Technologies, (ii) Clothing Production Technologies, (iii) Child Development and Education, (iv) Food Technology, (v) Graphics and Photography, (vi) Food-Drink Services, (vii) Shoe and Technology, (viii) Beauty and Hair care Services, and (ix) Handcrafts Technology.

Military High Schools

The primary examples of secondary level military schools were opened in Istanbul. Kuleli Military High School and Heybeliada Naval High School were the two most important schools meeting the needs of the Turkish armed forces.

Heybeliada Naval High School

Constituting the nucleus of the present-day Naval War School and Naval High School, the school was established in Kasımpaşa Shipyard in 1775 under the name Mühendishane-i Bahrî-i Hümayun (Imperial Naval Engineering School). Its name was changed to Mekteb-i Bahriye-i Şâhâne (Imperial Naval School) in 1839. In 1853, a 4-year-long high school was opened as a part of the school.

The Naval School was given the name Naval War School and Commandership of Naval High School in 1928. Between 1941-1946, the educational activities of the Naval War School and Naval High School continued in Mersin; however, it returned back to its old campus in Heybeliada between 1946-47. The Naval High School was separated from the Naval War School in 1963. Following the settlement of the Naval War School in its new facilities in Tuzla in 1985, the Commandership of the Naval High School was deployed in Heybeliada. The main purpose of the education given at the school is to prepare qualified students required by the Naval War School and to meet the Naval Forces’ need for recruits.

Kuleli Military High School

Training and educating the recruit candidates of the Turkish armed forces, the Kuleli Military High School started its education life in Dolmabahçe Çinili Mansion on September 21, 1845 under the name Mekteb-i Fünun-ı İdadiye. Operating in Maçka and Harbiye barracks between 1846-1872, Mekteb-i Fünun-ı İdadiye (High School for Sciences) moved to Kuleli Barracks in 1872 and was named Kuleli Military High School. The school was forced to change its location during the war and the armistice in the country. Following Istanbul’s independence on October 6, 1923, it returned to its original building. The Kuleli Military School moved to Konya on grounds of the WWII, and it was converted into a military hospital. As of the end of the WWII, it was transferred to the Kuleli barracks on August 18, 1947.

The main objective of Kuleli Military High School was to educate and train recruit candidates equipped with the necessary scientific infrastructure and excellent physical capacity. After Coup d’etat attempt on 15 July, Kuleli Military High School was closed on 31 July 2016 together with all other military schools.

Teacher Training

Teacher training system in the Republican era was founded on the Ottoman heritage as in other fields. Istanbul served as the biggest heir of this heritage. To exemplify, each province in the empire possessed a male and female teacher training school for the primary level whereas Istanbul accommodated both the Male and Female Teacher Training School for the High School level. A regulation implemented in 1915 structured these institutions to educate and train pre-school, primary, secondary and high school teachers. These institutions underwent change in terms of their organizational structure and programme in 1924. Three teacher training schools were based upon the infrastructure of these institutions: the Yüksek Muallim Mektebi (High Teacher’s School), the Female Teachers’ Primary School and the Male Teachers’ Primary School. Nevertheless, the idea of opening a Secondary Teacher Training School was not actualized.

Teacher education and training in the Republican era can be classified into two main strands: (i) Teacher Education and Training Within the Ministry of National Education; (ii) Teacher Training and Education at Universities. Both schools will be touched upon in the following lines.

Teacher Education and Training Within the Ministry of National Education

Teacher Training institutions in Turkey performed their activities under the roof of the Education Authority and Ministry of National Education until 1982. They were transferred to universities collected under the roof of the Higher Education Council the same year. Regarded as the most prominent institutions of the Turkish education system under the administration of the Ministry of National Education, these schools/ colleges/ institutes are as follows: The Teacher’s College (Yüksek Muallim Mektebi), the Istanbul Female Teachers’ School, the Istanbul Male Teachers’ School, the Atatürk Education Institution, the Istanbul Education Institution and the Atatürk Teachers’ College. Besides these schools, the Terbiye-i Bedeniye Mektebi (School of Physical Education), the Anadoluhisarı Youth and the Sports Academy also educated and trained teachers.

Istanbul School for Elementary Level [Female/Male] Teachers

This institution educated class teachers, and is the successor to Darülmuallimîn-i Sıbyan (Ottoman School for Elementary Level Male Teachers-1868) and Darülmuallimat (Ottoman School for Elementary Level Female Teachers-1870). It was named Teachers’ School in the 1930s. A regulation enacted these years converted these schools into secondary schools with an education period of three years. The Female Teachers’ School utilized its successor’s campus building in Çapa. In the meantime, the Male Teachers’ School continued its educational activities together with Haydarpaşa High School in the building of Mekteb-i Tıbbiye (School of Medicine). It was joined by the Atatürk Education Institute and Teacher’s College under the same roof and administration in the historical building of Darülmuallimat in Çapa. Training class teachers, both institutions functioned under the name of Teachers’ Primary School until 1973. Within a century after its establishment, it was converted into a school equivalent to a high school. It was replaced by the Istanbul Education Institute granting two-year degrees in 1974.

Istanbul Teachers’ College

It is the successor of Darülmuallimîn-i Âliye established towards the end of Tanzimat for training teachers of secondary education. It performed its activities under the name of Teachers’ College for some time as of the declaration of the Republic. In the 1923-24 school year, a secondary level teachers’ school was opened, in place of the primary level, in order to educate and train teachers for secondary educational institutions. However, it was not a long-lasting institution. Referred to as the Teachers’ College in 1936, the school turned into an institution training teachers for high schools only. On the other hand, it remained the only high-school teachers’ school until 1959. It maintained its mission in conjunction with two of its counterparts opened in Ankara and İzmir, consecutively. It was closed in 1978, and replaced by the new Atatürk Teachers’ College which was converted into Atatürk Faculty of Education in 1982.

Atatürk Education Institute

Istanbul Atatürk Education Institute was opened in the 1946-1947 school year in order to train secondary school teachers and materialize the mission of Darülmuallimîn-i Rüşdî opened in 1848. In a short time, this new institution became one of the best institutions training the most qualified teachers in Turkey.

Istanbul Teachers’ College was closed including other teachers’ college in 1978. In the same year, education was stopped at the Atatürk Education Institute. In addition, other three-year-long education institutes were converted into four-year-long teachers’ programme with a different organizational administration and programme. Atatürk Education Institute commenced educational activities in 1980 under the name Atatürk Teachers’ College.

Istanbul Education Institute

This institute was opened in 1974 to educate class teachers, and provided a two-year education. It was operational in the building used by Zübeyde Hanım Girls’ Vocational High School for a long time. It became one of the schools in which anarchical events were experienced intensely before the 1980 military coup.

Teachers’ Education at Universities

Whereas higher education institutions were organized under YÖK’s (Higher Education Council) roof in 1982, teacher training institutions were put under the administration of universities. Schools conducting bachelors’ programmes were converted into faculties of education. On the other hand, two-year-long education institutions were turned into education colleges. The first of these faculties was the Atatürk Faculty of Education at Marmara University.

Atatürk Faculty of Education at Marmara University

The faculty was established following the conversion of the Atatürk Education College which was the successor of Istanbul Education Institute operating under the Ministry of National Education. Functioning under the administration of Marmara University established the same year, the faculty was combined with several higher education institutions at this stage. Staff working at the School of Foreign Languages were transferred to relevant departments of the faculty. In addition, operating under the administration of the Ministry of National Education, Anadoluhisarı Youth and Sports Academy was converted into the Department of Physical Education and Sports.

Istanbul Education College, a higher education institution providing two-year-long education, was opened in 1985 as a part of the faculty. Study period in this school was increased to four years in the 1989-1990 school year. However, the college was buried in the dusty pages of history after its conversion into College of Primary Education Training in 1992. Within a year, the Department of Physical Education and Sports was turned into the College of Physical Education and Sports operating under the administration of the Rectorate. Undergoing a restructuring process in its academic organization and programmes in 1998, the Faculty continued to train teachers in 22 fields in the 2011-2012 school year. It was among the largest teacher training institutions in Turkey with a number of 230 academicians and 9000 students the same year.

Faculty of Education at Boğaziçi University

It is one of the two faculties of education established in Istanbul in 1982. Established in conjunction with Boğaziçi University, the faculty was based upon the infrastructure of Robert College. Since it was not founded upon the infrastructure of an education institute, it took a different developmental path compared to other faculties established in the same year. Educating teachers in nine subjects, the faculty had 61 academic staff and 2216 bachelors’ students in 2012.

Hasan Âli Yücel Faculty of Education at Istanbul University

Named after Hasan Ali Yücel, one of the most important Ministers of Education in the Republican era, this faculty was established in 1998. The historical foundation of the faculty is constituted by the Institute of Pedagogy established in 1936 at the same university. Institute of Pedagogy was converted into the Pedagogy Platform operating under the Faculty of Letters in 1949. The abovementioned platform was named the Department of Pedagogy shortly after. Its name was changed to the Department of Educational Sciences in 1982 by YÖK. It constituted one of the founding units of the Hasan Ali Yücel Faculty of Education, which was established in 1998. Disposing of the advantage of operating in the most historically rooted university of Turkey, it continued to train and educate teachers in 11 subjects in 2012 as well.

Faculty of Education at Yıldız Technical University

The faculty was established in 2003. Previously a part of the Faculty of Sciences and Letters, its academic staff at the Department of Education transferred to the faculty. It was educating and training teachers in 9 subjects in 2012.

The number of faculties of education has increased at a proportion of 1/3 over a quantity of 90. On the other hand, the number of faculties of education in Istanbul amounted to approximately 14. Two faculties of educational sciences were opened as well. As observed in Table 13, 10 out of 12 faculties of education in Istanbul as of May 2012 and 1 out of faculties of educational sciences perform their educational activities in private universities; however, these schools have not been operative enough to be able to admit students until now. As seen, faculties of education opened by public universities serve as institutions educating teachers within at least nine subjects, conducting master and doctoral programmes as opposed to Istanbul Medeniyet University which was still undergoing the establishment process. Different from other higher education institutions, Faculties of Education in Istanbul contribute to not only education and science but also to social life through their different historical foundations, academic staff and facilities.

Higher Education

Present-day higher education institutions in Turkey are comprised of universities, institutes, colleges, conservatories, vocational colleges and centers of research and application; however, a myriad of academic units of different names and structures (institutes conducting bachelor’s, associate degree and three-year bachelor’s programmes) were operative in the education system until the enactment of YÖK Law no. 2547.

A series of reforms, which were to revolutionize the social structure and institutions, were implemented as of the declaration of the Republic on 29 October 1923. Among these reforms, bearing a deep impact on state and social life alike, were those enforced on 3 March 1924. Three laws were adopted simultaneously on this date, and are as follows: Tevhid-i Tedrisat (the Code for the Unification of Education), abolishment of the Khalifite, establishment of Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı (Directorate for Religious Affairs) and substituting Şer’iye ve Evkaf Vekaleti (Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments). All educational institutions in the country, including their budgets and stuff, were to be conducted by the Ministry of Education (Maarif Vekaleti). Nonetheless, military schools were left out of this limitation for a short time.

An important article in the code stipulated that ‘’The Ministry of Education shall open a faculty of theology in Darülfünun (Istanbul University) for the education of religion experts as well as schools for the education and training of imams and preachers’’. The Faculty of Theology, opening as the fifth faculty in Darülfünun, admitted the students of the closed Süleymaniye Madrasa. In 1933, the faculty of theology was converted into an institute functioning under the faculty of letters. İmam Hatip schools, on the other hand, were obliged to be closed on various grounds.

Darülfünun moved from Zeynep Hanım Mansion to Harbiye Nezareti ‘s premises (Ministry of War) after 1923. New regulations regarding Darülfünun were implemented as of 1924, and discussions regarding the implementation of new reforms were sparked, but the government and Darülfünun fell into a dispute. Some prominent intellectuals of the Republican era accused Darülfünun of ‘’failing to transmit the soul of national reforms to students, and not being involved in the implementation of the reforms and changes taking place in the country’’. In April 1925, the Rector of Darülfünun, İsmayıl Hakkı Bey, handed in his resignation. Upon accusations inflicted upon Darülfünun failing to support reform movements, a radical change and severance was considered indispensable by the government.

In 1931 Albert Malche was invited from Geneva to Istanbul for reforming Darülfünun, and he prepared a long report on the reform. Staff working at the school started to be laid off following the report. Darülfünun was closed accordingly, and substituted by Istanbul University. According to Malche’s report, the university was converted into a public institution performing under the administration of the Ministry of Education. 157 people out of 240 staff members in Darülfünun were side-lined. Furthermore, over 40 academic members arrived from various countries, primarily Germany. Before departing from Turkey, Malche prepared a report on university reform in 1950, and drew attention to the failure of the implemented reform. In his opinion, the university reform was unsuccessful. In its 69-year-long history, Darülfünun laid the ground for a unique and eclectic higher education in Turkey. A multitude of scientific works were compiled, and journals were published. Various departments and administrative organizations took shape. The foundations of modern higher education were laid through inception of a myriad of academic rituals such as awards and punishments, master-level and doctoral theses, formation of a Turkish scientific literature, development of scientific research methodology, and entrance and exit tests. Therefore, Istanbul University was substantially constructed upon this tradition.

Darülmuallimîn (later referred to as Darülmuallimîn-i Âli) were functioning as one of the higher education institutions, which educated and trained teachers during the Republican era. Darülmuallimîn-i Âli was named Teacher’s College in 1924, and continued to act as the only institution educating and training high-school (and equivalent institutions) teachers until 1959. As of the 1934-35 school year, this school started to be referred to as the Teachers’ School transforming into different teacher training institutions. They served as examples for other schools serving in Istanbul for many years and for the schools that were later on opened in other Anatolian provinces.

Public Universities

Istanbul University

Istanbul University and Istanbul Technical University constitute two of the most significant institutions in higher education in Istanbul since these were the only universities that existed until the establishment of Marmara University and other public universities.

Established within the 1933 university reform, Istanbul University accommodated four faculties: the Faculty of Letters, the Faculty of Sciences, the Faculty of Medicine, and the Faculty of Law. Various institutes were established under the roof of these faculties as well: the Institute for Islamic Studies, the Chemistry Institute, the Institute for Economics and Social Sciences (İktisadi ve İçtimai İlimler Enstitüsü), the Institute for Electron mechanics, and the Institute for Turkish Reforms. A platitude of academicians and politicians lectured on the history of reforms at the Institute for Reforms. In 1934 the Institute for Economics and Social Sciences was established under the roof of the Faculty of Law. Two years later, these two institutes were converted into the Faculty of Economics by Fritz Neumak. The Faculty of Economics commenced its educational activities in 1937. Opened under the roof of the Faculty of Letters in 1939, pedagogy, sociology and psychology evolved into separate departments. Converted into departments or faculties in many universities later, some subjects were published for the first time at these universities. In addition, the academic infrastructure was constructed at these universities as well. Schools functioning as colleges under Istanbul University’s administration were constructed, and endowed with faculty status later. Foremost among these are the School of Pharmacists, the School of Dentists, and the School of Foreign Languages.

In the 1933-1934 school year, the School of Medicine in Haydarpaşa gradually moved to Beyazıt. The Health Foundations were established in assorted fields in Cerrahpaşa, Vakıf Gureba, Haseki and Şişli Etfal. However, their capabilities unfortunately continued to decrease. Hence, the Çapa School of Medicine was established upon the resignation of a group of academicians from the Cerrahpaşa School of Medicine in 1956. In this way, Istanbul University acquired two large faculties of medicine. The number of faculties at Istanbul University rose from 5 to 20 in between 1927-1980. The number of students increased from 1660 to 40.000 in the same period of time whereas the number of academic staff went over 5000.

In its formation years, Istanbul University developed an academic culture with the influence of German higher education. The legal infrastructure and basic regulations such as the first doctoral exams and regulation, masters and doctoral exam regulations, discipline regulations, and assistantship guidelines were constituted in this period. A large part of other universities to be founded in different provinces of Turkey were based upon this heritage. Despite the fact that some changes took place in the organizational and educational structure of the university as of 1960s, the major changes were observed as of the 1970s, and a good number of faculties were established followingly:

The Faculty of Letters, 1900-1933; the Faculty of Medicine, 1909-1933; the Faculty of Natural Sciences, 1900-1933; the Faculty of Law, 1900-1933; the Faculty of Economics, 1936; the Faculty of Political Sciences, 1979; the Faculty of Veterinary, 1972; the Faculty of Forestry, 1934; the Faculty of Pharmacy, 1962; the Faculty of Dentistry, 1964; the Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, 1967; the Faculty of Chemistry, 1967; the Business Administration, 1967; the Faculty of Earth Sciences, 1976; the Faculty of Engineering, 1981; the Çapa Faculty of Medicine, 1967; the Faculty of Communication, 1992; the Faculty of Aquaculture, 1992; the Faculty of Theology, 1992; the Hasan Âli Yücel Faculty of Education 1998; the Faculty of Health Sciences, 2010; the Open and Distance Faculty of Education, 2009; and the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, 2011.

According to data from 2012 -these numbers are in constant change-, Istanbul University provides education in various fields and on nearly all academic levels. All these services are offered in 20 faculties, 17 institutes, 11 colleges and 34 research centers. Its headquarters are located in Beyazıt. The university is comprised of different campuses located in different parts of the city such as Çapa, Cerrahpaşa and Avcılar. Data from 2012 demonstrate that there were 2066 academicians employed and over 70.000 students enrolled in the university. Ranking among the first most successful universities many times in different world ranking records, Istanbul University serves as one of the best higher education institutions in terms of scientific capacity. All public and private universities located in Istanbul and other provinces owe a lot to Istanbul in meeting their need for academic staff and academic culture.

Istanbul Technical University

This is the second higher education institution established in 1944 and focused solely on technical education. The beginnings of this school date back to the School of Naval Engineering (Mühendishane-i Bahrî-i Hümayun) established in 1773. Later the school underwent substantial changes in terms of its curriculum, courses, organization, personnel and legal status.

As the Republic was established, the School of Engineering was organized in such a way to cover subjects such as railway, motorway, water works and construction-architecture. In addition to subjects of water works and motorway, the field of construction was included, and the school started its educational activities in 1929. Producing its first graduates in 1931, the College of Engineering educated and trained engineers required for the public works of the Republican Turkey. With the contribution of Europe and (particularly German) scientists, the College of Engineering became one of the most prominent schools in technical education. Situated in the old artillery barracks in Gümüşsuyu, the technical university moved to the premises of Taşkışla and Maçka Armoury later on. These historical buildings still provide education today.

The number of faculties established between 1943-44 rose from 4 to 14 in 1988. In the same period, the number of students went up from 792 to over 17000 while academicians stood at a number of 1600 in 1988 compared to that of 1943-44 at 122. The College of Engineering was converted into Istanbul Technical University in 1944. In its first years, the university provided education in civil, architectural, machinery and electrical engineering. The university expanded with the construction of faculties of mining, chemistry, ship building, natural sciences and letters, business administration, aircraft and space sciences. In addition, all faculties were divided into departments, and each faculty developed diploma programmes. In the meantime, some departments located outside Istanbul gradually evolved into faculties and even universities (e.g. Fırat University).

İTÜ (Istanbul Technical University) transitioned to a two-stage education in the 1974-75 school year, and launched a two-year-long master’s programmes in many fields of expertise on top of the four-year-long bachelor programmes. The six institutes established within the university continue to conduct master’s and doctoral programmes, and the university is ranked among the top technical universities in Turkey. The data from 2012 indicate that the number of faculties, institutes and other research units reached over 30. The number of academicians stood at more than 988 compared to that of students at over 25.569.

The Faculties of Architecture, Machinery, Business Administration, State Conservatory of Turkish Music and the Institute for Social Sciences are located in Taşkışla, Gümüşsuyu and Maçka. As well as the Rectorate and other administrative buildings in Maslak campus, the faculties of civil, mining, chemistry and metallurgy engineering, sciences and letters, aircraft and space sciences are also located in this campus. While being one of the most prominent institutions in the fields of engineering and other natural sciences, İTÜ ranks among the top 500 universities as well. As an institution educating and training not only scientists in mathematics, physics and astronomy but also many top government officials, politicians such as Turgut Özal, Necmettin Erbakan, Erdal İnönü, Süleyman Demirel and Gökhan Çetinsaya (YÖK president until 2013). The İTÜ occupies a considerably critical place in modern Turkey’s destiny.

Boğaziçi University

One of the most important educational institutions in higher education is Boğaziçi University, the foundations of which are based on the American missionary school in Bebek established during the Tanzimat Period. With the efforts of Cryus Hamlin and Christopher R. Robert’s (American businessman) donations, this school started its activities in 1863 in the premises of former Seminar of Theology (İlahiyat Semineri) in Bebek. A short time later the school moved to its present-day campus located by Rumelihisarı facing the Bosphorus. The campus was purchased from Ahmed Vefik Pasha upon the long struggle of Hamlin. All foreign schools in Anatolia were closed down in 1921 on the grounds of their missionary activities; however, they were allowed to be reopened with the adoption of the Lausanne Treaty. Muslim-Turkish students outnumbered non-Muslim students at this time, which has continued to be the case since the signing of the Lausanne Treaty.

A school of engineering was established in the college in 1912. Providing education as a secondary-level education institution until 1957, the Robert College was converted into a higher education institution. The School of Linguistics was opened in 1958, which was followed by the opening of the School of Economics in 1959. The private Robert College was handed over to the Turkish state with all assets upon a decision taken by the Constitutional Court regarding the closure of all private colleges, which resulted in the foundation of Boğaziçi University on September 9, 1971. Remaining in an establishment and institutionalization process until 1978, Boğaziçi University was established through a law in the same year and recognized as an autonomous university. The Faculties of Administrative Sciences, Basic Sciences and Engineering; the Schools of Associate Degrees and Colleges under the Rectorate administration; and the School of Foreign Languages were also founded in 1978.

There were three faculties at the Boğaziçi University in 1971. An additional three faculties were annexed to the school until 1988. With a number of 1000 enrolled students in 1971, the university’s student population reached 5775 in 1988. During the same years, the number of academicians rose from 79 to over 600. Data from 2012 demonstrate that there were 430 academicians in office and 11.710 students enrolled at Boğaziçi University. Possessing tight international relations, the university accommodates quite a rich library as well as effective research units and student clubs.

It is possible to observe the strong influence of American education philosophy at an autonomous university, which provided education in a foreign language for the first time in Turkey. During its formation years as a college, the school targeted the admission of Armenians and other minorities in Turkey, and served as a steadfast supporter and missionary of the Protestant belief.

The data from 2012 puts forward the information that the university functions as one of the most prestigious universities in Turkey with 4 faculties, 4 institutes, 6 vocational colleges and 17 research units as well as its educational, research, social and cultural activities; sending most students and personnel abroad.

Boğaziçi University has been a window opening to the world, and an effective higher education institution in İstanbul within the social, economic, political, cultural, and the diplomacy fields. This university has become an educational institution, which began under the influence of minorities and foreigners in the pre-Republican period but later was highly influenced by both a Muslim-Turkish and a deep American culture. Furthermore, individuals who demonstrated extreme success in science, culture, economy, health, arts and politics were educated here.

Marmara University

Established as a university in 1982, its foundations are based on the Hamidiye School of Commerce (Hamidiye Ticaret Mekteb-i Âlisi) which was opened on January 16, 1883. For a long time, it continued its educational life as a secondary-level vocational school operating under various ministries beginning from the Ottoman era.

The School of Commerce was converted into the İstanbul Academy of Financial and Commercial Sciences in 1959. By means of regulations implemented in 1982, it became the fourth university of İstanbul under the name of Marmara University. It still functions as the second largest university in İstanbul in terms of student and academic staff capacity.

Marmara University stepped into education life with 9 faculties, 1 college, and 1 institute in the 1982-1983 school year. 11.730 students were enrolled whereas 900 academicians held office at the university in the same period. The number of faculties and other research units rose to 14 in conjunction with the number of students and academicians standing at 15.725 and 1190 respectively.

According to data from 2012, the school continues its academic activities with 16 faculties, 9 colleges, 4 research centers at all academic levels. With a personnel of 3000 and over 70.000 students, the university offers education in five different languages (Turkish, English, French, German, and Arabic) in various faculties, primarily the faculties of economics, business administration, political science, engineering, medicine, dentistry and theology. Located in varied districts of İstanbul, Marmara University is premised in ten different campuses (Göztepe and Haydarpaşa campuses are the most prominent). The central building of Haydarpaşa campus is the magnificent Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Şâhâne (Imperial School of Medicine) serving as one of the most prestigious schools during the reign of Abdülhamid II.

Yıldız Technical University

Established as a university in 1982, this institution is founded upon the premises of Kondüktör Mekteb-i Âli (İstanbul School of Conductors) opened in 1911. Training technicians under the name Nafia Mektebi (School of Public Works) for some time, the school was named İstanbul Technical School in 1937. The school began to train and educate professional engineers and cadastre officers, some other technical departments started to be opened as of 1937. The name of the school was replaced by İstanbul Public Academy for Engineering and Architecture in 1969 commencing to train professional engineers and architects.

Endowed with the name Yıldız Technical University in 1982, this institution became the fifth largest higher education institution in İstanbul. The newly-established university accommodated faculties of sciences-letters, engineering; vocational college in Kocaeli, institute for natural sciences, institute for social sciences; school of foreign languages, departments of the history of Atatürk Principles and Reforms, Turkish language, physical education and fine arts operating under the Rectorate.

Yıldız Technical University consisted of 5 faculties, 7560 students, and 566 academicians in the 1982-83 school year. Within five years, an additional faculty had been established whereas the number of students and academicians had reached 12.422 and 732 respectively.

The university was referred to as Yıldız Technical University in 1992 when new faculties and research units were opened. According to the data from 2012, Yıldız Technical University was equipped with 10 faculties, 2 institutes, 2 vocational colleges, and 1 school of foreign languages. The university conducts academic education and research at all levels with 25.000 students and 700 academicians holding office at 19 different research institutes (out of 2000 academicians).

As well as sending and admitting most students abroad through the Erasmus Project, the university hosts the largest techno-park (Davutpaşa Technopark) in İstanbul. The university campus is scattered around various localities such Beşiktaş in which the headquarters of the school is annexed to the historical Yıldız Palace, and Maslak. Settled in a land of 1300 acres, Davutpaşa Campus consists of modern buildings and the large barracks constructed upon the demand of Mahmud II for the new army [Asâkîr-i Mansure-i Muhammediye], which replaced the Janissary Guild. Among other universities the campus also owns a privileged status within the Congress and Cultural Center for 2010 European Capital of Culture.

Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts

As other public universities in İstanbul, Mimar Sinan University was referred to as a university in 1982; however, it is founded upon Sanâyi-i Nefîse Mektebi (School of Fine Arts) which was founded under the directorship of Osman Hamdi Bey in 1882. The Sanâyi-i Nefîse Mektebi started its educational life in the fields of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture with eight educators and twenty students in the premises across the Archaeology Museum located in the garden of Topkapı Palace. Later on its organizational, educational structure underwent changes and developments. The name of the institution was replaced by the Academy for Fine Arts in 1928, and thus became the first academy in modern Turkey. The Painting and Sculpture Museum, established in the Prince Chamber of Dolmabahçe Palace, was put under the administration of the Academy upon Mustafa Kemal’s order in 1937.

Endowed with scientific autonomy in 1969, the institution maintained its activities under the name İstanbul Public Academy for Fine Arts. Utilized as the Faculty of Letters (İstanbul University) and later as Atatürk High School for Girls, Adile Sultan Palace was annexed to the Academy for Fine Arts. The Turkish Film Archive was taken under the administration of the Academy for Fine Arts, and thereafter referred to as the Film Archive of Academy for Fine Arts. In the course of nationalizing the private colleges in 1971, the College of Architecture and Applied Industrial Arts were incorporated into the Academy for Fine Arts. A myriad of new departments was opened until 1976.

Mimar Sinan University hosted three faculties, 2705 students and 383 academicians on its establishment date: 20 July 1982. In 1988, the number of faculties, students and academicians rose to 5, 15.725 and 1190 respectively. Comprised of faculties of architecture, sciences-letters, natural sciences and institute for social sciences, the university embodied the State Conservatory working under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The historical Tophane-i Âmire was allocated to the university by the Ministry of National Defence in 1993. The university’s name was changed as Mimar Sinan University of Fine Arts in 2004.

According to the data from 2012, there were 3 faculties, 3 institutes, 1 college, 1 vocational college and 3 research units. Approximately 300 academicians held office; over 6000 students were mostly enrolled in programmes such as arts, architecture, design etc.

Istanbul Medeniyet University was established in Istanbul on 21 July 2010. Compared to other universities and being quite ambitious in social sciences particularly, the university was established with a substantial number of academicians. Situated in various districts of İstanbul, the school admitted its first students to the master’s programmes at the Institute for Social Sciences in the 2011-2012 school year, and also started educational activities on bachelor level of some departments in the following years.

National Defense University

It is the last public university established in Istanbul on 31 july 2016. It was founded after the coup d’etat attempt with a governmental order and all personnel, estates and assets of Military Academies, Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) Colleges, Non-Commissioned Officer Military Band College, repealed Command of War Academies and Military High Schools were attached to the National Defense University.

Foundation (Waqf) Universities

The first foundation university, the Bilkent University, in Turkey was established in 1984 following the establishment of YÖK. The 1990s laid the ground for the beginnings of Turkey’s internationalization process in economy, politics, education, science and culture There is a direct relation between the development of, particularly, private universities in Western countries and bourgeoisie and economic development. In parallel with this development, companies, holdings and industrial circles developing as of 1990s started to establish their own universities in order to meet their staff needs and further improve their commercial activities with the support of science and technology. As of the second half of the 1990s, foundation and private universities started germinating in İstanbul. Koç and Sabancı served as the first examples for these universities, and were followed by the respective establishment of other foundation universities as seen in Table 15.

Some foundation universities, established as of 2005 particularly, preferred to specialize in certain fields. For instance, Bezm-i Alem Foundation University is concentrated on health whereas psychology and behavioral sciences are specialization fields of Üsküdar University, and Özyeğin University is focused on finance, banking and capital markets. İstanbul Şehir University and İstanbul 29 May University concentrate their educational activities on social sciences. Some foundation universities in İstanbul conduct their education in the English language.

Despite the fact that foundation universities, primarily Koç University, Sabancı University, Kadir Has University, and Bilgi University were established recently, these universities could rank among the leading universities with their academic staff, students and research and application centers. Foundation universities in İstanbul realize not only educational activities but also research, international academic activities, EU projects, cooperation with local administrations, and activities contributing to science and culture life such as book and journal publishing. It is worth mentioning that the laboratories at Sabancı and Koç Universities; publishing, academic, cultural and social activities of Bahçeşehir and Yeditepe Universities are conducted at an international level.

There are currently 34 foundation universities in İstanbul. As emphasized earlier, the entirety of these universities are non-profit foundation universities as opposed to Western-type private universities. [Without a doubt, there are some who abuse this non-profit principle and bring the economic dimension to the forefront and thus weakens education as a whole]. According to the data from 2012 (though these numbers are in constant change), over 3700 academicians held office at foundation universities with a number of over 120.000 students enrolled.

Since their inception, a large majority of foundation universities meet their need for part-time and full-time academic staff from public universities. Nevertheless, they are taking steps into educating and training their own academic staff by means of opening master’s and doctoral programmes. The tuition fees at these universities are department-based. Full- and partial-bursaries are also available for some programmes. At the same time, it can be said that the foundation universities have had a rising influence in international student mobilization.

Foundation Vocational Colleges (MYO)

The Vocational colleges, both public and foundation, stand among the significant subjects and institutions to be touched upon in a discussion of higher education in İstanbul. Having been established within the last five years, private colleges can only be found in İstanbul. Aiming at providing mid-range human resources with the industries and social fields in particular, private colleges are developing day by day.

Military Higher Education Institutions in Istanbul

Virtually the totality of high-level schools training commissioner officer and staff officer were situated in İstanbul in the Ottoman era.

The Mekteb-i Tıbbiye (School of Medicine) and the Mekteb-i Harbiye (Military School) ve Mekteb-i Bahriye (Naval School) have been conducting their activities in İstanbul since the reign of Mahmud II. Dating back to the pre-Tanzimat era, some of the military colleges and academies in İstanbul moved to Ankara and other provinces; however, in time a certain number of these moved back to İstanbul. As of the 2012-2013 school year, the higher education institutions (except for Kara Harp Okulu (the Military Academy) which train commissioned officers, staff officers and non-commissioned officers for the Turkish Armed Forces, are all located in İstanbul or its surrounding districts or provinces (Table 17).

The historical foundations of the present-day five educational institutions (Turkish Joint Command and Staff College, Military Academy, Naval Forces Academy, Air Forces Academy and the Directorate of Strategic Research Institute) functioning as a part of the Commandership of Military Academies affiliated with the General Staff are found in Mekteb-i Fünûn-i Harbiye-i Şâhâne Erkân-ı Harbiye Sınıfları (Military Officer Academy Classes) established in 1848. These institutions train commanding personnel for the military and conduct research as well as masters’ programmes. Hundreds of foreign commissioned officers have been trained in the abovementioned academies providing high-standard training and education.

The Gülhane Military Academy of Medicine (GATA) trains military doctors, and provides specialization training in medicine. Initially established in the rose gardens in Demirkapı, the Military Academy of Medicine started to be referred to as Gülhane in time, and moved to Haydarpaşa since the 1933 Reform. The GATA Commandment is located in Ankara. On 31 july 2016, National Defense University (NDU) was founded and all Military Academies and Military High Schools were given to the order of the Rectorate of National Defense University.

Higher Education Dorms in Istanbul

Student dorms serve as important auxiliary spaces for higher education in Istanbul. All universities include male, female or mixed dorms as a part of their institution, foundations or associations. Private dorms also provide services with students. According to the data from 2012, there existed 28 dorms affiliated with YURT-KUR¹ in Istanbul. These dorms accommodated 193.610 students. Official data demonstrate that the number of students accommodated at private dorms amounted to 155.919. There are also 319 private-run dorms affiliated with the state. Not only university but also secondary school students are accommodated in these dorms.

NON-FORMAL EDUCATION

Non-formal educational institutions functioned in the capacity of associations and derivatives within other public institutions until the 1960s. Following the establishment of the Directorate General of Non-Formal Education in 1960, regular and planned activities started to be implemented under the control of the Ministry of National Education. Town Organizations began to be established as of this year. The basic status and task fields were based upon principles determined by Talim ve Terbiye Dairesi (Board of Education and Morality) in 1979.

As per the relevant article of the regulation for non-formal educational institutions, non-formal education is defined as ‘’the totality of life-long educational, productive, guidance, consultation and practical activities performed at various levels, at different lengths of periods providing non-enrolled and enrolled individuals at different levels of formal education or individuals leaving any of these levels with the necessary knowledge, skills and behaviour in order to enable their economic, social and cultural development according to their demands’’. Public Education Centers constituted the most significant venues of literacy courses since there was a serious problem of illiteracy until the 1990s. Serving as an educational system supporting formal education in all regards until recently, ‘’Non-Formal Education’’ is now referred to as ‘’Life-long Learning Programme’’. In place of traditional institutions such as gedik, lonca and ahi, non-formal education units were founded for the training of apprentices, craftsmen and assistant craftsmen in the Republican era. Apprentice training was based on legal grounds through a law enacted in 1977.

Amounting to 2.247.630 in 1970s, the population of İstanbul reached 5.842.985 and 7.309.190 in 1985 and 1990 respectively. 211.620 individuals (7.1% of İstanbul’s population) were registered as illiterate in 1985. For this reason, the primary aim of non-formal education was opening literacy courses. Furthermore, secondary level courses were formed in order to endow individuals with professions. A multitude of courses started in many fields such as typewriting, folklore, local and regional music, playing various musical instruments, health seminars, protection against lethal and contagious diseases, exhibition, fashion shows, painting and sculpture, carving, handcrafts, needlecraft, ornamentation arts, ebru, calligraphy, child-rearing, healthy life, accounting, simple technologies, machine design, computer, foreign languages, electric, machinery, hair-dressing, furnace stoking, engine repairing, lathing and levelling.

An Apprentice Training Center was opened in Industrial Vocational High School registered at Bakırköy’s Tozkoparan town in İstanbul. This center provided theoretical education in five classes mostly, and there were 1348 students registered here. As of 1991, 13 apprentice training centers started to germinate in assorted districts such as Beyoğlu, Eyüp, Fatih, Bostancı, Çatalca, Gaziosmanpaşa, Kartal, Sarıyer, Ümraniye, Silivri, Şişli, Yalova and Zeytinburnu. These institutions trained hundreds of apprentices, craftsmen and assistant craftsmen in order to meet the need for intermediate staff in an fast-urbanizing society in the following subjects: fitting, cutting, lathing, thickness planning, grinding, hair-dressing, steel fixing, welding, sanitary installation, casting, electrical installation, maintenance, repair and electricity, coil winding, vehicle electricity, vehicle painting, front alignment, engine rebuilding, bodywork repair, engine repair, diesel engine fuel and pumping, vehicle upholstery, radio-TV repair, furniture-making, surface works, printing (typography, offset, graphic, printing, measuring volume), glass works, jewellery, leather business, shoemaking, reception, service, dental prosthesis, elevator repair, heater repair, tailoring, ready-made clothing (inner and outer wear), bricklaying, painting, cooking, bakery, pastry, confectionary and candy-making, ventilation, plastering, upholstery and wall-papering, bar-bending and cement casting.

In 2012 it is observable that there are formal educational institutions active in a myriad of fields owned by public and civil society organizations in İstanbul. There are also public education centers and vocational education centers functioning under the administration of the Ministry of National Education. On the other hand, İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality offer courses, targeting at different social segments, for occupational and leisure purposes in approximately all districts. The Bel-Mek serves a good example for these institutions. The Public Education Centers affiliated with the Ministry of National Education possess 37 buildings whereas the vocational education centers offer services in 18 buildings. The Public Education Centers offer courses in clothing, fashion design, computer, midwifery, child nursing, electricity, electronics, machinery, automotive, engine, accounting, textile, wooden works, rug-weaving, sanitary installation, hair-dressing, Turkish, English, religious education, mathematics, printing, metal, furniture, food and general knowledge. Some of these courses are offered on a national and local level. National-level courses are as follows: Türkiye Okuyor Kampanyası, Ana Kız Okuldayız Kampanyası, İstanbul Türkiye İçin Okuyor Projesi, İstanbul Halk Eğitim Merkezleri (hemfest), Okullar Hayat Olsun Projesi (Turkey Reads, Mothers and Daughters At School, İstanbul Reads For Turkey, İstanbul Public Education Centers Festival (hemfest) and Schools are Life).

The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Arts and Vocational Courses (İSMEK) commenced its activities as a social texture project during the office of İstanbul Metropolitan Mayor, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in 1996. The courses were offered in three course centers, in three subjects with 141 students in its first year. As of the 2013-14 school year, the numbers of students have reached 1.600.000 accommodated in 38 districts, 235 course centers, in 250 subjects. Having more students than most universities in İstanbul, İSMEK has become the largest ‘’public university’’ in terms of the number of courses and participants; variety of subjects; quality products created in these training courses. İSMEK is today regarded as a national and international model.

Provincial Directorate of National Education functions as the top control and management organ conducting Life-long Learning Activities in İstanbul. The activities are mostly performed from the Directorate of Eminönü Public Education Center in which 1 deputy director, 1 chief and 5 other staff hold office.

There are 45 Public Education Center located in 39 districts in İstanbul (2 in Beşiktaş, 2 in Beyoğlu, 2 in Fatih, and 4 in Kadıköy). Moreover, 31 Vocational Education Centers (in Adalar, Bakırköy, Beşiktaş, Beykoz, Esenler, Eyüp, and Sultangazi) and 2 Olgunlaşma Enstitüsü (Advanced Technical School for Girls) carries out activities. At non-formal education centers in İstanbul, 44 official and 2 substitute directors, 11 head assistant directors and 138 assistant directors hold office. In addition, there are 340 teachers performing their duties in assorted subjects at these centers. 20 permanent qualified trainers provide training in subjects such as clothing, handcrafts, parenting education, embroidery and child rearing.

A total of 441 courses in 51 different subjects were opened between 2009-2012. These are as follows: wood technology, shoe and leather technology, soldier training, gardening, computer, information technologies, office management and secretaryship, employment life, child care and youth services, child development and education, naval education, entertainment services, handcrafts and technology, handcrafts and embroidery, electricity and thermal energy, household services, journalism, food technology, clothing and production technology, graphics and photography, beauty and hair care services, public relations and organization services, nursing services for the sick and elderly, law, construction technology, occupational health and safety, personal skills, personal development and education, travel services, jewellery technology, machinery technology, printing, metal technology, motor vehicle technologies, accounting and finance, music and performing arts, literacy, teaching, marketing and retail, health, arts and design, art and cultural courses, ceramic and glass technology, sports, textile technology, textile, clothing, shoes, leather, installation technology and air-conditioning, foreign languages, food and beverage services.

It is observed that an average of 22 students participated in the courses between 2009-2010; an average of 15 students per course were enrolled during the 2010-2011 school year; and an average of 14 students were trained in each course in the following school year.

In terms of education in the 20^th century in İstanbul, it can be said that İstanbul is one of the largest and most important world cities stretching across two continents with an approximate population of 14.000.000. 2.523.418 students in formal education and 1.149.022 students in non-formal education are provided education and training services in İstanbul. 11 out of every 100 pre-school students; 17 out of every 100 primary-school students, 18 out of 100 secondary-school students study in İstanbul. 1 out of 7 teachers in formal education is employed in İstanbul. According to official data, there are 125.982 teachers, a total of 3.672.440 students at 5.792 secondary-level educational institutions. This number rises to over 5.000.000 students when higher education is taken into account.

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FOOTNOTE

1 Institution for Dormitories