Literacy Activities in Gendarmerie from the Ottoman to the Present

Abstract

From the past to the present, the Gendarmerie has given special importance to the training of its personnel at all levels. For this purpose, since the establishment of the Gendarmerie Schools in 1904, attention has been paid not only to the military and vocational education of the personnel, but also to their social and cultural development. Apart from vocational training in the gendarmerie, various activities were carried out especially for the private soldiers to ensure their personal development. One of these activities is literacy education. At the beginning of the 20th century, the idea that the gendarmeries, who would serve at different levels, should be literate came to the fore. In this process, it is seen that various activities were carried out for the illiterate gendarmes. Gendarmerie Literacy School, one of the activities carried out, is within the scope of the Turkish Armed Forces and care was taken to act jointly in other activities.

The aim of this study, which was prepared based on the historical method, is to evaluate the literacy activities in the gendarmerie education from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic. In this context, firstly, literacy activities in the gendarmerie during last period of the Ottoman Empire were examined. Then, after the adoption of the new Turkish letters in 1928, the steps taken to teach the new alphabet especially for gendarmerie private soldiers and non-commissioned officers and the work of the Gendarmerie Literacy School which was opened in 1959 were evaluated. In these schools, information was given about how reading and writing was instructed to the privates, the materials used, the assessment and evaluation method, and the teaching staff. With this study, it has been revealed that the gendarmerie in our country does not only provide vocational training for privates in certain periods, but also planned literacy courses for illiterate private soldiers and how these courses were conducted.

There is no study that would require the approval of the Ethical Committee in this article.

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