To Examine of Nation Schools from the Perspective of Public Education
Fezade BayraktutanThe alphabet which was formed with Arabic Letters was abandoned and replaced with a new alphabet based on Latin letters in Turkey in 1928. After this revolution, the Nation Schools were founded for the purpose of teaching the new alphabet to the public. The Nation Schools were officially activated on January 1, 1929. Its second term opened by making some arrangements for new experiences which it had earned in the first term. The aim of this study are to examine in detail the Nation Schools as an education institution and to argue about its assistance to public education. In the study, after the Alphabet Revolution, Nation Schools were examined as an institution and finally the contribution to public education was examined. Archive documents, newspapers, The Turkish Grand National Assembly Records, books, articles, and textbooks of Nation Schools were used during the study. The lesson content was prepared using The Nation Schools regulations book to show what the educational expectations were for the Nation Schools. The first and most important contribution of Nation Schools were to announce and introduce the new alphabet. At the same time, it was an announcement of a new era. The Nation Schools contributed to an increased rate of literate students and helped public education have more structure. Nation Schools and Reading Rooms were the precursor for the Nation Houses and Rooms which would open a couple of years later.
Millet Mekteplerinin Halk Eğitimi Açısından İncelenmesi
Fezade BayraktutanTürkiye’de 1928 yılında Arap harflerinden oluşan alfabe terk edilerek Latin harflerine dayanan yeni bir alfabe kabul edildi. Bu inkılap sonrası yeni alfabenin halka öğretilmesi amacıyla Millet Mektepleri kuruldu. Millet Mektepleri 1 Ocak 1929 tarihinde resmen faaliyete geçti ve bu ilk dönemde edinilen bilgilere göre bazı yeni düzenlemeler yapılarak 1 Kasım 1929 tarihinde ikinci dönemi açıldı. Çalışmanın amacı, Millet Mektepleri’nin bir eğitim kurumu olarak incelenmesi ve halk eğitimine katkılarının değerlendirilmesidir. Çalışmada, Harf İnkılabı’na kısaca değindikten sonra Millet Mektepleri teşkilatı incelenmiş sonra da halk eğitimine katkıları tartışılmıştır. Çalışma sırasında arşiv belgeleri, gazeteler, Meclis Tutanakları, basılı kaynaklar ve Millet Mektepleri’nde okutulan kitaplar kaynak olarak incelenmiştir. Özellikle ders içeriği konusu Millet Mektepleri’nden beklenenin ortaya konması amacıyla Millet Mektepleri talimatnamesinden yararlanılarak hazırlanmıştır. Millet Mektepleri’nin ilk ve en önemli katkısının yeni alfabenin duyurulması ve tanıtılması olduğu söylenebilir. Bu aynı zamanda yeni bir dönemin de duyurulmasıdır. Millet Mektepleri ayrıca ülkedeki okuryazar oranının artmasına, halk eğitiminin daha kurumsal bir yapı kazanmasına da yardımcı olmuştur. Millet Mektepleri’nin ve okuma odalarının daha sonra açılacak Halkevleri ve Halk Odaları için birer prova niteliği taşıdığı da söylenebilirr.
On November 1, 1928 a new alphabet was accepted in Turkey. After this revolution, Nation Schools were activated to teach the new alphabet to the Turkish people to make them literate. The Prime Minister, İsmet İnönü, described the Nation Schools as an initiative to rescue the people from ignorance.
Through the Nation Schools, reading and writing was taught to people without any setback in their daily activities and work. Nation Schools started education programs on January 1, 1929. After extensive publicity campaigns, the Nation Schools were the scene of enthusiastic openings.
A new mission was created in the second term; new lessons would be given in addition to teaching reading and writing. The aim was to provide some basic information to the people.. For that reason, it began to give new lessons such as health, counting and measurement, and homeland information.
Lessons were six hours per week and students were 16-45 years old. There were two types of Nation Schools, itinerant and settled. Itinerant Nation Schools would give service for the areas which had no schools. A book which contained the constitution would be given as a present to the first three students that obtained the best degrees. There were two classes in Nation Schools, A and B classes. The content of A classes was reading, writing, and numbers. In the B classes, counting and measurement, health, and homeland information would be taught. Lessons and their time periods per week were: Reading and writing - two hours, Counting and Measurement - two hours, Health - one hour, and Homeland Information – one hour.
The reading lesson intended to teach easy reading to make students love to read. The Writing Lesson’s aim was to teach students how to write their ideas and thoughts clearly. Such topics as counting, measuring units, and four operations were taught in Counting and Measurement. The Health Lesson’s first aim was to give basic information about the body, organs, and their functions. Secondly, to teach individual and social health essentials. Homeland Information included titles like basic Turkish History, the Republic, the Turkish Grand National Assembly, elections, the president of the republic, local governments, taxes, the military profession, and national holidays.
In February 1929 the Ministry of Education published a magazine called “Public” to encourage people’s reading habit. Also, the Ministry of Education published some special alphabets and books and distributed them for free. The reading rooms were opened to continue people’s reading habit. Finally, Village Boarding Classrooms were designed for villages which did not have any schools.
Nation Schools were under province management as noted in the regulations book. Money was set aside from the education part of a province budget for Nation Schools. How many schools that opened in an area was dependent on the provincial government.
Nation Schools failed to carry on its success for the long term. Economic factors played a role in this situation. There was a difference of opinion between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance. Also, the 1929 economic crisis affected both the economy and agenda of the country. In the first five years, 1.2 million people graduated from Nation Schools. This is an important result to take into consideration. But, the most important contribution of Nation Schools was the introduction of the new alphabet. Nation Schools contributed to an increased rate of literacy and helped public education to have more structure. The Nation Schools and Reading Rooms were the precursor for Public Houses and Rooms which would open a couple of years later.
