The modern teacher training system in the Ottoman Empire was established during the Tanzimat Period. The first teacher school, Dârülmuallimîn-i Rüşdîye, was opened in Istanbul in 1848 to meet the teaching needs of the rüştiye schools (junior high school). Following this institution, teacher schools were established in the capital to train male and female teachers for various levels of education. The first teacher schools in the provinces began to open after 1875. 

At Dârülmuallimîn-i Rüşdîye, students were provided with a stipend of 30 kuruş when education commenced. Efforts by Ahmet Cevdet Efendi, appointed as the director in 1850, resulted in an increase of the stipend to 80 kuruş in 1851. It’s evident that Ahmet Cevdet Efendi aimed to save the students from traditional madrasah habits, attract successful youth to the school, and ensure they complete their education without financial concerns by increasing student stipends. The stipend program was also continued at Dârülmuallimîn-i Sıbyan (Teacher Training School for Sıbyan Schools), which was opened in 1868 to train qualified teachers for elementary education, and students at the school began to receive 30 kuruş stipends. The Regulations of General Education (Maarif-i Umumiye Nizamnamesi ) issued in 1869 introduced provisions linking stipends to a specific system. Under these regulations, it was decided to provide 80 kuruş stipends to rüştiye section students, 100 kuruş to idadi (first stage of secondary school) section students, and 120 kuruş to sultani (second stage of secondary school) section students within the teacher schools to be gathered under the Büyük Darülmuallimin. Graduates were required to teach for a minimum of five years in return for the stipends received. The same rule applied to graduates of Dârülmuallimât, which trained female teachers for elementary and rüştiye schools. Stipends of 30 kuruş were provided to 25 students in the sıbyan section and 60 kuruş to the same number of students in the rüştiye section. It was also decided that if graduates refused to continue their service after graduation, the stipends they received would be reclaimed.

By 1888, the stipend system in teacher schools in Istanbul began to yield positive results, leading to increased interest in these schools. Consequently, the government decided to suspend stipends for existing students at Darülmuallimin-i Rüştiye from March and announced that new students who want to enroll will be accepted to the school, provided that they do not request a scholarship. This decision sparked one of the first student boycotts. Students protested the decision, stating that they would boycott the school if stipends were not reinstated, and they would directly address the issue to the Sultan, the highest authority. In response to the escalating situation, the government reinstated stipends for students.

In 1891, a regulation was introduced for teacher schools in Istanbul, restructuring the stipend system. Initially, the number of muvazzaf (stipend recipients) students was increased to expand the number of students receiving stipends. For example, the number of active students, initially set at 100 in the Regulations of General Education, was increased to 140. With the new regulation, efforts were made to address the imbalance among student stipends. Stipends for rüştiye section students at Darülmuallimin were reduced from 80 to 75 kuruş, those for aliye section students were reduced from 100 to 80 kuruş, and those for ibtidai section students were increased from 30 to 50 kuruş. Mandatory service obligations remained for stipend recipients, and penalties were introduced for those who did not fulfill them, including deprivation of rights and privileges for the teaching staff and the obligation to repay stipends received during their education.

Important aspects of the stipend system need to be clarified. Students at teacher schools were admitted in two categories: muvazzaf (stipend recipients) and gayr-i muvazzaf (nonstipend recipients). Over the years, decisions were made to alter the number of muvazzaf students at various levels. The Council of Education sometimes reduced stipend amounts to accommodate more students or shifted allocated stipend funds within Darülmuallimin branches. Consequently, there were fluctuations in the stipend amounts. For instance, in 1901, stipends for ibtidai students were reduced to 40 kuruş, rüştiye students to 60 kuruş, and aliye students to 80 kuruş to accommodate more students. Moreover, it’s noted that student stipends in Istanbul’s teacher schools were not provided throughout the year. Stipends were only given on days when education was conducted, and they were halted during holiday periods. Students on leave did not receive stipends for those days. However, students unable to attend due to illness continued to receive stipends upon providing evidence of their condition.

The first teacher schools in the provinces began operating in 1875 in Bosnia, Crete and Konya. After 1880, with the appointment of education directors to the provinces, many darülmuallimins started to open. Unlike in Istanbul, there was no official decision regarding stipends for students in provincial schools. The government did not undertake such a financial burden. Provinces willing to provide stipends for their students did so from local education revenues. However, provinces unable to afford stipends faced challenges. They struggled to recruit students for darülmuallimins and could not retain enrolled students for long. Additionally, without stipends, there was no legal obligation to direct graduates to teaching positions, leading to ongoing shortages of teachers in these provinces. Hence, many documents reflect the efforts of these provinces to secure funding from the central government.

During the Second Constitutional Period, efforts were made to convert provincial Darülmuallimins into boarding schools (leyli). All expenses of teacher schools were covered by allocations sent by the treasury. Stipends were discontinued for students in boarding schools as they received free education. However, stipends continued for non-boarding day schools (nehari). With the enactment of the new provincial law in 1913, granting provinces the right to allocate special budgets, all expenses of teacher schools were entrusted to provincial special administrations.