Colemerik Boys' Secondary School

In 19th century, important steps were taken in the Ottoman Empire by understanding that western European innovations could be realized through education. Firstly, modern educational institutions were stepped up to meet the needs of civil servants during the era of Mahmoud II, and secondary schools known as rushdiyes were opened after elementary (sibyan) schools. The number of rushdiyes increased rapidly in a short time, and important arrangements were made regarding these schools with the Statute on General Education sued in 1869. With this statute, it was decided to open rushdiyes in administrative units with a population of five hundred households. Following the year 1869, these schools were opened in many sub-province centers. Despite the fact that many rushdiyes were opened in a lot of subprovince centers and areas in the empire, a rushdiyes was not opened in colemerik, the sub-province center of Hakkari district until 1889. However, it was observed that a rushdiyes was put into service and started education in Elbak/Baskale, which was the sub-province center of Hakkari beforehand, and even though this school was not sufficient, it still provided a great opportunity for education for the area. Another rushdiye similar to this one was opened in colemerik, and in this region, which was one of the most remote centers in Anatolia, the school served as the first model for modern education. After 1889, in which this school was put into service, rushdiyes provided prominent information for presenting the current situation of the area and reflecting the relationship between the government and the local administration, as understood from the insights obtained from yearbooks and archival records. As mentioned above, with the establishment of cclemerik Rushdiye School, modern education was given for the first time in the area; however, in the first phases of this process, providing students for the school posed a problem. The facts that education was not sufficient in Colemerik in the past and that many problems occurred about finding qualified teachers to be sent to the area caused an interruption in education goals and low profile approaches in education in Colemerik. Naturally, these issues affected the number of students, and the numbers changed several times in the period in question. This study will focus on issues such as how Colemerik Rushdiye School for Boys was affected by geographical conditions, education activities in this school, the process of its establishment, the school personnel, course materials and its physical structure based on the documents obtained from the Education Yearbook (Maarif Salname) and the Ottoman Archives of the Prime Ministry, and the current situation of the area and the role of cclemerik in government policy will be covered.