An Unfinished Educational Project: Heybeliada Sebil’ürreşad Primary School

Abstract

Education is an indispensable part of our lives. The levels reached by societies from past to present are directly proportional to the education systems they apply. When we look at developed countries today, it is clear that education systems are the basis of their development.

Considering the last periods of the Ottoman Empire, it is seen that important reforms were made in many areas. One of these areas is education. However, some responsible intellectuals and sensitive people, who thought that the reforms were insufficient, took up this issue and initiated some studies on this issue. One of the intellectual and sensitive people interested in the issue of education is our national poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy. Ersoy focused on education and wanted to establish a primary school in Heybeliada. The school, which has a fouryear period of education, considered it a duty to undertake the education of Muslim children. In the regulation prepared for the school, it is stated that the children between the ages of 7-10 will be admitted to the school, the school will be paid, the school needs will be met with the revenues from the donations and activities, those who do not pay the school fee will not be taken to the classes, the education affairs will be formed by the principal, teachers, servants, and by a four-person administrative committee. It has been clearly stated that the education will continue from the beginning of September to the 25th of May, special and general exams will be held, students will be regularly checked for health, the use of tobacco products and damage to school property are prohibited, and successful students will be rewarded. In the curriculum, the courses which will be taught are clearly stated that the first year consists of three semesters of three months, the second year consists of two semesters, and the third and fourth grades consist of one semester.

The aim of the study is to reveal a little-known educational institution. The scope of the study consists of Sebil'ürresad Primary School, which is planned to be established in Heybeliada. In the study, the available data were evaluated objectively using the case study research method, but the fact that there were almost no school-related resources was seen as the most important issue that made the study difficult.

In this study, Sebil'ürreşad Journal will be used as the main source, and the school and program established by M. Akif Ersoy in Heybeliada will be evaluated together with secondary sources.

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

This paper was checked for plagiarism. (https://intihal.net/)

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