II.2. The Tanzimat Reforms (1839-1876)
In the Tanzimat Declaration officially known as the "Imperial Gulhane Decree of 1839", read by the Grand Vizier Mustafa Reshid Pasha in the name of Sultan, there was no mention of public education. It was taken for granted however that such radical measures could only be possible by educational reforms effected by the state. In 1845 before the Imperial Decree of 1856 confirming that European education, science and capital would be used, Sultan Abdulmecid, who succeeded Sultan Mahmut II, had message read, to top officials of his government. It stated in effect that:
The Sultan was disappointed that no progress has been made in education.
New schools should be innovated -even invented if necessary- for public education, for general and vocational education all over the country and for happiness of the people in this and the world hereafter.
The Ministry of General Schools, founded in 1846, was incorporated in 1857 to the Ministry of General Education. The Sultan's message also gave the starting signal long needed for substantive reforms and renovations, known as "The 1847 Directives". In compliance with the Imperial Orders, the Sibyan school programs were radically revised. The new program included: The Alphabet, Turkish (writing two and three-letter words, ethics (brief, anecdotal stories), Calligraphy and Religious information (about Islam), Koran to be read twice (without memorizing by heart). Arithmetic (four basic operations), the Outline of Ottoman history and on outline of geography. For writing exercises, introduced anew, pupils were to be given slate boards to be supplied by Sultan himself. Schooling was to begin at the age of seven and continue for four years without yearly passes or failures, but terminating with a graduation exam at the end. Those failing the final exams were allowed to remain in school until the age of 13.
This certainly was a bold and brave leap forward. Yet the real revolution of the 1847 Directive was effected in secondary education. For, as has been shown, there was no institution between the Sibyan school and the Madrasa, and the first schools of naval and military engineering founded in XVIII century had to set up and run their own primary and secondary school programs.
Tanzimat proposed three new schools, namely,
Rushdiya İdadiya and Sultaniya: Rushdiya, a 4-year make-up or maturity school at the primary level; Idadiya, a 4-year school for preparation to higher and vocational education; and Sultaniya a 6-year secondary school (above Rushdiya but including İdadiya), which was the first Ottoman lycee. Due to the lack of a real university, the first Ottoman Sultanis established in Istanbul, like Galatasaray and Darushafaka ("Datchka") towards the end of Tanzimat, set up the national standards of a Baccalaureate degree, which was later taken up and continued by the Republicans. In 1848 the first teacher training school was opened in Istanbul for educating the Rushdiya teachers. There were in 1852 only 12 Rushdiya in Istanbul while in 1874 some 18. In big cities of the Empire there existed a total of 25 Rushdiya in 1853. The Tanzimat leaders' decision to open a university in 1846 came true in 1863 with an impressive list of Ottoman scholars lined up as teachers. The building, constructed of timber, burned down in 1865 with some 4000 books acquired from abroad.The major educational breakthrough of the Tanzimat came with the 1869 "Ordinance of General Education", (Maarif-i Umumiye Nizamnamesi) conceived and written by Sadullah Pasha in response to a diplomatic French note requesting the establishment of a modern lycee. The 1869 Ordinance was an attempt for a suitable infrastructure, based on the following premises :
Hence some of the objectives of the reforms to be undertaken were:
Table II.2.l. Ordinance (Official) Programs for Rushdiya
Boys Common Core Girls
Introduction to Religion
Ottoman (Turkish) Language
Dictation and Composition
Arabic and Persian (Farsi)
Line Drawing Exercises
Bookkeeping Techniques
Geography
Plane Geometry
General History Outline of History
Physical training Readings in Literature
Local language(s) Embroidery Designs
French (elective) Music (elective)
Source: Akyüz (1994:144)
The Sultani Schools (corresponding to a western lycee) to be established in some important urban centers only, were conceived as six-year secondary institutions, above the Rushdiya. In the first three years called the “Adi” (ordinary) level, the idadiya programs (Table II. 4) would be required. In the last three years, called the “Ali” or the higher level, Science and Literature branches were available and optional.
Table II.2.2.
Idadiya Programs Prescribed by the 1869 Ordinance
(For Boys)
____________________________________________________
Turkish Writing (advanced) Natural History
Grammar of Turkish Lang Algebra
French Math and Bookkeeping
Logic Geometry
Wealth of Nations Geometry of Areas
(economics) Technical Drawing
Geography Biology
General History Chemistry
____________________________________________________
Source: Akyüz (1994: 145)
Notes:
The positivistic spirit of the 1869 Ordinance is best expressed by the Terakki ("progress") journal, published by the "Society for Sciences" in 1869:
If the long-haired short-minded women appeared inferior to men, it was due to their inadequate education and limited participation in public life.
A university in Istanbul, envisaged by the 1869 Ordinance, came to life in 1870 under the able leadership of Hojha Tahsin Efendi. His live experiments about life and his night lectures open to the public resulted in harsh reactions from the Madrasa followers.
Table II.2.3.
Sultaniya Programs : the Upper (Lycee) Level
( A three-year course)
Literature Branch Science Branch
Art of Turkish Writing Descriptive Geometry
Precis writing exercises Analytical Geometry
Readings in Arabic & Farsi Perspectives
Syntax and Dictionary Algebra
French Language Trigonometry (plane and spherical)
Wealth of Nations Astronomy
Laws of Nations Biology
History Applied Chemistry
Natural Sciences
Topography
Source: Akyüz (1994: 146)
Table II.2.3. merely provides the prescription; how well it was fulfilled is another question.
The University offered three programs for teacher training (See Table II.7).
After another abortive trial in 1872, the second attempt to establish a university failed in 1873 with less than 100 students A year later, in 1874, the idea was revived and put to the test, a reasonably safe distance away from the conservative Madrasa (located in the Fatih region) in the Galatasaray Sultaniya buildings, located in the Pera Section of the city, across the Golden Horn. According to the Ordinance, this new university was to have three departments (faculties or colleges): 1) School of Arts and Science, 2) School of Law, and 3) School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Prescribed Course Programs for each school are shown in Table II.2.4.
Table II.2.4.
University Departments and Prescribed Course Titles ( 1869)
(A Three Year Program, Academics required the Fourth Year)
Arts and Sciences Law School Sciences and Math
Human Body Islamic Law (Sharia) Cosmology
Bio-Psychology Methods Islamic Law Physics
Logic and Meaning Roman Law Chemistry
Public Speaking French Law Geology
Ethics and Theology Trial Methods Mineralogy & Metals
Natural Law Commercial Laws Botanics
Science of History Penal Codes Zoology
Advanced Arabic Criminal Codes Geometry
Farsi (Persian) Public Adm Law Analytical Geometry
French International Law Descriptive Geometry
Turkish Perspectives
Comparative Grammar Calculus
(linguistics) Mechanics
Study of Measures Natural History
General History Mathematics
Archaeology (Antiquities) Topography
Numismatics
Source: "Ordinance of General Education /1869”; Akyüz (1994: 147)
These were the ambitious programs that the Tanzimat had undertaken. Yet the important and pioneering contributions were in areas of technical-vocational, professional and informal public education. The first School of Forestry followed the first School of Agriculture in 1857 in 1857. For training foremen or technicians a School of Mining was opened in 1874. For the clerks of Justice or scribes a three-year middle school was opened in 1862-63 along with the first school of translators of modern languages. Between 1864 and 68, Mithat Pasha, a Governor in European Rumelia, opened several boarding schools for delinquent children. In addition to the 3-Rs, children were trained in traditional arts and crafts. He also pioneered establishing vocational schools for girls. A five-year boarding school of industrial arts and crafts was established in Istanbul for children under 13. Graduates were certified as apprentice, associate and master in metal works, machinery, joinery works etc. In 1864 and 1869 new vocational institutions for girls were established for producing supplies, such as military uniforms and underwear.
At the higher or professional level, public officers were to be educated in a 4-year Mulkiya (a civilian as opposed to military) school of public administration, which was opened in 1859. The first graduates of this school also served as Idadiya teachers established after 1873. By the same token,
Mekteb-i Tıbbiye-i Mülkiye, which means a “civilian school of medicine” (as opposed to the military school established in 1834), was opened in 1867. Incentives were so high that besides good professionals, this school trained the bulk of Young Turks or future revolutionaries.Leading statesmen of the Tanzimat, Sultan Abdülmecit, Reshit Pasha, Ali Pasha, Fuat Pasha, the “Historian of historians” Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, Ahmet Kemal Pasha, Mithat Pasha, Ahmet Vefik and Saffet Pasha were all interested in the educational reforms. Ziya Pasha (1825-1880), translator of Rousseau's Emile, had been an outspoken opponent and a popular target of the conservative Madrasa. Ebuzziya Tevfik (1848-1913) and Ali Suavi (1839-1878), as thinkers, writers and publishers generously contributed to the Tanzimat Reforms.
Mustafa Fazil Pasha, one of the founders of the Young (Yeni) Ottomans, wrote to Sultan Abdülaziz from Paris, in French that “Unless separated, (i.e., secularised) both the State and Islam will fall or fail together.” Young Ottomans, however, seeing Tanzimat as an attempt at secularization and hence a threat to the State, tried to stop such a development or slow it down.
A less known Tanzimat educator was an engineer Ibrahim Edhem Pasha, whose Councils to my children is a unique blend or exceptional compromise of East and West, science and faith. He also translated an excellent geometry text.
In summary, the Tanzimat Reforms created a system of contemporary schools of three years each: Sibyan schools, Rushdiya, Idadiya and Sultaniya, Teachers Colleges and University, respectively. With few exceptions most of these schools were located in Istanbul. A generation after the decision for Tanzimat Reforms, nearly 20 % of the Imperial schools were following the modern curricula, while more than 70% still remained the darkness of the Madrasa tradition. This dichotomy invited a remark from a minister of education “If not for the schools, he would run the education perfectly.” He was not complaining of schools as such but rather, and ironically, of the ruthless opposition by the Madrasa directed to schools. In brief, despite a variety of obstacles, Tanzimat succeeded in creating Rushdiya and Idadiya and in training their teachers in the western tradition. Though University failed or fell short of its objectives, the professional schools filled the vacuum. More specifically, Tanzimat was successful in introducing:
Turkish as the language of instruction was probably the greatest asset gained.
Ottomans made history but didn't bother to write it. Ottoman texts of history were, in fact, official state chronologies since the creation, written by official court scribes. Tanzimat brought a new consciousness of history: Who are we, what do we do? and a new window to natural history (science).
In all fairness, it should be underlined that if they could not do any better, it was not because they did not know better, but because they did not have the financial means and the political will to support them. Many broad visions of the 1869 Ordinances, are, by and large, valid models of reforms. Tanzimat was further handicapped from the fact, that although there was a Ministry of General Education, madrasa, military schools, private or foreign school and vocational and professional (higher) schools were all supervised by different State Ministries of equal rank-without an effective cooperation or coordination between them.