While the Ottoman Empire was dealing with political and economic problems in the 19th century, it initiated reforms in many administrative and economic fields as well as in the military. Modern schools were opened by taking military training in the West as an example for the reformation of the army. Turkish military high schools have been opened since 1845 in order to send qualified students to Turkish Military and Naval academies. For the same purpose, military secondary schools were opened in 1875 and began to affect the increase in the quality of military education. In this context, the main objective of this article is to reveal the importance of Kasımpaşa Military Secondary School, which was one of the first military secondary schools in the history of Turkish education. 

The 19th century, which is described as the age of education for Europe, was an era in terms of having same the aspects in this field for the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman administrators, who saw that the failures, lack of weapons and equipment on the battlefields could be compensated with the qualified manpower to be trained in this field, decided to open modern military schools. Since 1875, the opening of military secondary schools has made important contributions to the modernization of military education. Kasımpaşa Naval Military Secondary School (Kasımpaşa Askerî Rüşdiyesi) was opened in the same year. It was among the military institutions providing modern vocational training in Istanbul. In this school, an average of 250-400 students were trained per year. English was compulsory here as a foreign language. Students were trained at this school in a military discipline. Kasımpaşa was known as the neighborhood of mariner families. These people generally preferred this school for the education of their children. Thus, some families became a part of the navy with the tradition of being a sailor from father to son.

Military secondary schools were first opened in Istanbul during the period of Sultan Abdülaziz (1861-1876). These schools seemed to be very useful. In the following years, and especially during the period of Sultan Abdülhamid II (1876-1909), the number of these secondary military schools was increased. In addition, military secondary schools were opened in Anatolia. The new military secondary schools also spread to the Balkan provinces especially near the locations of military high schools. At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of military secondary schools, which were opened over a wide area from the Balkans to the Arabian Peninsula, was over 20.

Kasımpaşa Military Secondary School was constructed on a plot 31 meters long, 20 meters wide, based on a 620 square meter plot consisting of two floors. It was planned that 50-60 students would graduate from this school every year and would go to the Naval Academy in Heybeliada. Nevertheless in the first years, the this goal was not achieved. Only 18-20 students were able to graduate from the school between the years of 1877-1878. Some of the students left school because of their lack of success and their absence. This was an unexpected situation which caused the number of students in the Naval Academy to decrease. Every year, it was possible to send an average of about 15-20 students from Kasımpaşa Naval Military Secondary School to the Naval Academy. However, it was decided that the Naval Academy would cater for more than 40 students.

It was also seen that this number increased in certain years. For example, in 1890 it reached 25 students and 30 students in 1891. Among those there were some students who had graduated from other civilian secondary schools and who had attended the Naval Academy. There were also difficulties in finding a sufficient number of students.

Different studies were also carried out to meet the student needs. In this context, the option of sending students who graduated from civil secondary schools to the Naval Academy came to the agenda. For instance, the special school directorate named Maşrık-ı Füyûzat in the Fatih district of Istanbul was chosen to send students to Naval Academy. This school was required to include maritime-related lessons in its educational programs. The Maşrık-ı Füyûzat, the application of Kasımpaşa Naval Military Secondary School curriculum, was requested. Based on this decision those who graduated from Maşrık-ı Füyuzat were allowed to attend in the Naval Academy

The curriculum of the Kasımpaşa Military Secondary Naval School was almost the same as other military secondary schools. In other military secondary schools, the foreign language was French, while in the Kasımpaşa Naval Military Secondary School, the foreign language was English. The reason why English language was compulsory was the import of ship and marine technology from England.

A new class was opened in 1879 in the Kasımpaşa Naval Military Secondary School. The purpose of this was to take a step towards training clerks for the navy. This class was called Menşe-i Küttab. The training period in this class was two years. Students who graduated from Naval Secondary School but who were over the age of entering the Naval Academy were selected for this training. The number of students in this system changed over the years. It was between 5 and 20 people on average. For example, 11 students graduated from this class in 1892.

With all these features, Kasımpaşa Naval Military Secondary School has an important place in the history of Turkish military education. This school was the first and only school among the military secondary schools to offer a naval education. The building of the Naval Military Secondary School continues to raise new students as an educational institution affiliated with the Turkish Ministry of National Education.