Samsun
Schools
Author 1: ÖZYURT SELAHATTIN
Author 2: ERLER ΜΕΗΜΕΤ YAVUZ
List of Schools
History
The Judicial Court Register of 1830 provides us with the information that there were eight madrasahs (pious high schools) at the centre of the city: İbrahim Efendi Madrasah, Hasan Efendi Madrasah (Sait Bey), Yeni Madrasah, Büyük Cami Madrasah, Onbir Odalı Madrasah, Eski Madrasah, Yekta Madrasah and Osman Paşa Madrasah. They offered mainly religious education, in addition to maths, geometry, agriculture and hygiene lessons. According to the records, İbrahim Efendi Madrasah, which had 4 rooms and 1 classroom in 1822, was the first example providing education only for boys in the beginning of the 19th century[1]. Almost all of the madrasahs were built near the baths and the mosques surrounding the Turkish castle at the city centre. It is stated that 35 students studied at the Abdullah Paşa Madrasah, which was stone built and had two storeys[2]. From the sources we see that Süleyman Paşa Madrasah was built in 1767 and had revenue as a foundation since 1813. The two-storey madrasah was constructed with stone as a rectangular building with one side open[3]. It also had 15 classrooms and a garden in the middle with one side open in a rectangular shape. The Sait Bey Madrasah was built with stone; it was put into service with 12 stone- built classrooms and 12 wooden-built classrooms[4]. The majority of the madrasahs, damaged in the 1869 fire of Samsun, were converted either into mosques or into a structure belonging to the mosque during the rebuilding of the city. Thanks to the development of commercial activities in the city, because of the increasing number of piers, the people were in need of a modern educational system. It could be argued that schools training both boys and girls in the primary, secondary and high school levels began to operate during the second half of the 19th century, within the framework of the Ottoman government reforms.
Furthermore, the number of the institutions belonging to the minorities increased in this period.Thirty schools particularly in primary and secondary school levels operated after 1890. 982 Muslim boys and 677 Muslim girls between the ages of 4-16 attended these schools close to the city centre and the neighboring places[5]. Especially the girls’ school, opened under the guidance of the Canik governor, showed great and fast advancement within a few years. This girls’ school offered one of the most important educational opportunities for Muslim girls in 1898, on the verge of the 19th century[6]. The majority of the schools built in Samsun were constructed as two-storey buildings with stone. The presence of a large garden ultimately left to the students in all the schools is notable. A higher level educational institution, known as the Sultani (secular high school) appeared after 1910. It can be traced from the school registers that 633 students in total studied in the Canik Sultanisi (secular high schools) in 1913. There were Greek and Austrian citizens among them[7].
A place was given to the Ottoman-Greek citizens in the educational system and 8,925 Greek students in 225 schools received training since 1906[8]. It is understood that Greeks started their educational activities with the schools that they had opened since 1846[9]. The first school which gave education for the Armenians was the Armenian Public School, founded in 1857. Education was provided to 60 boys and 25 girls there[10]. In Samsun and its surrounding towns, 27 Armenian schools operated in 1901 and in 1902; 1361 boys and 344 girls in total received education in these schools[11]. Schools belonging to foreign countries opened in Samsun as a result of the increasing number of foreign country citizens in a city which had developed commercially. Firstly, a school close to the Armenian Catholic Church was constructed by a Venetian tradesman’s family[12]. The Gary Tobacco Company Inc., of American interests, opened a branch in Samsun due to the development of the tobacco production and put into service a school which offered mainly night training, with Turkish, English and Science lessons for 300 children working in the tobacco shop[13].
[1] Mehmet Beşirli, 1755 No’lu Samsun Şeriyye Sicil Defteri, Volume: I, M.A. Thesis in Ondokuz Mayıs University, p.160.
[2] Mehmet Beşirli, ibid , s.272.
[3] Baki Sarısakal, Samsun Eğitim Tarihi, Samsun Buyukshehir Belediyesi, 2011 Samsun, p.15.
[4] Baki Sarısakal, Samsun Eğitim Tarihi, Samsun Buyukshehir Belediyesi, 2011 Samsun, p.19.
[5] BOA., MF., İST.49/7, Sarısakal, Eğitim Tarihi, p.186-187.
[6] Mehmet Yavuz Erler, “Sicil-i Umumi Defterlerine Göre Samsun Merkez İnas Mektebi (1898-1926)”, Ondokuz Mayıs Universitesi Eghitim Fakültesi Dergisi, Issue. 11, Samsun October 1998, p. 167.
[7] Baki Sarısakal, Samsun Eğitim Tarihi, Samsun Buyukshehir Belediyesi, 2011 Samsun, p.319-321.
[8] Baki Sarısakal, Samsun Eğitim Tarihi, Samsun Buyukshehir Belediyesi, 2011 Samsun, p.371.
[9] Baki Sarısakal, Samsun Eğitim Tarihi, Samsun Buyukshehir Belediyesi, 2011 Samsun, p.385.
[10] Baki Sarısakal, Samsun Eğitim Tarihi, Samsun Buyukshehir Belediyesi, 2011 Samsun, p. 418.
[11] Baki Sarısakal, Samsun Eğitim Tarihi, Samsun Buyukshehir Belediyesi, 2011 Samsun, p.419.
[12] Minitere des Affaires Etrangeres-Archives Diplomatiques, Fon: Constantinople-ambassade, seri: D, nr. Trebizonde 13, Consulat de France de Trebizonde, Belge. 544. Sarısakal, ibid , p.448.
[13] Aks-ı Sada, 2 Şubat 1327, p.466.
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