Village Institutes

In the early part of the 20th century, the literacy rate was very low In Anotolia. 90% of the people were not literate, and there were scarcely any literate women.

While the court and the government authorities lived in unprecedented luxury, Anotolian people lived in the misery of Dark Ages. Reforms in education for increasing the literacy rate could not be made. In the Ottoman Empire, a three-winged education system was applied in those years. These were religious education given in madrasahs, nationalist education given in schools of minorities and foreign schools and Western-style education given in classical Tanzimat schools.

As a result of this three-winged education, a society with three different views constantly in conflict with each other was created. In 1905, the number of foreign schools identified by the government was approximately 600, but the figure was much higher, as there were some undetectable and unlicensed schools were active at homes.

Modernization and being a nation would be impossible if this three-winged education system continued.

A New Era in Education

Mustafa Kemal’s fellow soldier Staff Colonel Saffet Arıkan was appointed as the Minister of National Education (MEB) and he appointed İsmail Hakkı Tonguç, who held similar opinions, to the General Directorate of Primary Education. Tonguç was familiar with the topic and he was also aware that he shouldered a huge responsibility. His first project was, “What is the Situation of Primary Education in Turkey?” The results of the project were reported and presented to the Ministry by the end of 1935. The report included both the problems and the solutions.

According to the report:

The main problem was in the villages, where the 80% of the population lived. There was an imbalance between the villges and the cities against the villages. The problems of the villages were not limited to the lack of schools and teachers; there were other serious problems. There was no difference in the lifestyle of the villages with and without schools. Schools did not make any difference in village life.

Villages differ in terms of population. The population of 16 thousand villages is less than 150. There are also imbalances between regions in Turkey. The report also offered suggestions for these facts.

Schooling of 35 thousand villages without schools should not be delayed. The problem could only be solved in 80-100 years with the system in place. A different solution had to be found for underpopulated villages, even if for only a temporary period. Schools, which would improve the life in villages, needed to be opened. Teachers who could make such a transformation needed to be trained. Teachers with leadership skills needed to be trained for achieving improvement.

Turkey’s budget could not allocate a big resource for education. Therefore, a new method had to be found for building schools, and villagers were also in position to make contributions. The current education system could continue in cities but, for the neglected masses in villages, a new system that would give priority to them and was custom-made needed to be implemented.

The findings of the report were based on facts, and its suggestions were approved, so a trial period began. As teachers should be trained for small villages, some skilled people who became corporals or sergeants in the army were selected. The target was to send them to their own or to the nearest village after a training period of 6-7 months.

Rural Training Colleges needed to be opened for five years in big villages. Only the children of the village should be accepted to these schools, and the teachers who graduated from these schools should also study agriculture and technical courses, as they also need to be the leaders of the village. Some other useful staff, like midwives and health officers, should also be trained for the villages. Training colleges should be boarding schools. Following the first course opened in 1936, Rural Training Colleges were opened in 1937, and a trial period was begun. As the experiences acquired seemed sufficient, things that could be done were enacted. Village Institute Law was enacted on April 17, 1940. Rural Training Colleges were transformed into Village Institutes. Their number increased rapidly. The Organization Law was enacted on June 19, 1942, and the Health Personnel Training Law was enacted in 1943. In 1942, the Higher Village Institute was opened. Thus, the legal bases of Village Institutes, which were to include the schooling system to be implemented in the villages, were finalized.

New Practices in Turkish Education System

Tonguç defined Village Institutes as below:

“They will be opened as regional institutions to train village teachers and other experts needed in villages, in line with the vocational training principles, where there is suitable land for agriculture. They are public boarding schools that receive their students from the villages.”

According to this definition, several groundbreaking principles that were different from the old and classical system, and which did not exist in Turkish Education System, came to the fore.

• Village institutes were to train professional experts for the villages. (Health officers, midwives, craftsmen, etc.)
• Education was to be based on vocational training principles.
• These were to be regional institutions, and the institute will be the cultural center of the region.
• The students would be only from the villages.
• They were public boarding schools, open throughout the year.
• Institutes would be set up in the country and would train students so they could work in their villages.

Planning in Village Institutes (1936-1946)

With the Village Institutes, a strict schedule was planned and implemented. Village institutes produced graduates in 1944. In 1945, a detailed ten-year plan was prepared by each institute. Through this plan, the number of teachers and trainers, as well as the number of villages where institutes were to be opened, were identified. According to the plan, by the end of 1955-1956, there would be no village without a school and no schools without a teacher in Turkey.

Characteristics of the System

The education system used in all institutions of the Village Institute System, including Village Institutes, Higher Village Institutes, trainer courses and schools from which teachers graduated from Village Institutes worked and in regional schools, was different from the system used in others.

Village Institutes and Vocational Training

Vocational training is what first comes to mind in terms of Village Institutes. According to Tonguç, “Vocation is the activity utilized for creating value.” It is production-oriented. “The purpose of vocational training is to make the child an efficient citizen when he first goes out to work. In order to achieve this purpose, it is necessary to know the child and the business methods suitable for his nature.”

Reading Habit

One of the highly emphasized issues in Village Institutes was to help the students acquire reading habit. This was considered a key habit.

Democratic Education

In Village Institutes, democracy was learned through experience. Students contributed to making decisions regarding the operation of the institutes. The institutes were managed by the students through the student presidency system based on elections and weekly shifts. The students were involved in the execution of all the things that needed to be done in a wide line of business, and they took the responsibility. The number of attendants in an institute of 1,000 people did not exceed 3-5 people.

A Different Model

As the Village Institutes were regional institutions, the system had a different setup. Turkey was divided into Village Institute regions. Each Institute belonged to a region that covered 2-4 cities.

Institutes approved students from the villages in their regions and also assigned them in the same place. Each region prepared its schedule in line with general planning. It was not difficult to carry out planning without any delay, as due to obligatory service.

Higher Village Institutes

Primary Education Director Hakkı Tonguç suggested a proposal to the Ministry that could lead to Higher Village Institutes. With this proposal, it was emphasized that the number of students in the institutes increased rapidly, and finding teachers for the Village Institutes became harder, so the problem required a solution. The suggestion received a quick response. A decision concerning the opening of Higher Village Institutes was issued on October 19, 1942, and the Hasanoğlan Higher Village Institute is opened.

Deactivation of the System

After the 1st World War, the opponents of Atatürk’s reforms and his enlightening institutions started to take the floor. Village Institutes were threatening the agrarian elite, tribal sheikhs and the bureaucrats.

After the elections in 1946, Hasan Ali Yücel, who had made a great contribution in the formation of Village Institutions, was not appointed as the Minister. Similarly, İsmail Hakkı Tonguç, the founder, theorist and practioner of Village Institutes, was dismissed from the Directorate of Primary Education.

Reşat Şemsettin Sirer, the new Minister of National Education, was a reactionist and conservative politician. He was prejudiced against Tonguç and the Institutes. He started to close the Village Institutes and dismissed the teachers who worked there. Their tools and materials were dispossessed. The Higher Village Institute was closed in 1947-1948 academic year.

Co-education was terminated. Girl students were sent two two institudes.

The books that were found to be inconvenient were sorted out and burned. Following the elections in 1950, Tevfik İleri, the famous demagogue of the Democrat Party, was made Minister of National Education. In 1954, the name of Village Institutes, whose principles had been changed, was displaced.

Conclusion

Village Institutes were closed due to political reasons. No one wanted to replace them with a better option. If it had been the case, 7-8 million people would not be illiterate today. Each year, 1 million children would not be kept out of primary education. The reason for the negativities in education is the termination of the Village Institutes. Various features of that experience should be utilized today. It is impossible for us to write what we think about the ones who do not see or who do not want to see that option.

Source

AKEV, Issue 3, January – March 2019