Minority and foreign schools in the Republican Period (1923-1980)

With the weakening of the sanctions power of the Ottoman Empire, destructive / disruptive activities are observed between minority and foreign schools with the ingenuity of forces that want to break up the state. Although many of them were closed in the environment created by World War I, these schools were reactivated one by one after the end of the war. The state, which wants to rise to the level of modern civilizations as soon as possible, has launched a series of revolution movements. The politicians of the period, who understood the importance of education in these revolution movements, saw fit for the continuation of the existence of schools belonging to foreigners and minorities. However, in the effort to make these schools institutions that offer quality education under supervision; laws, circulars and orders and audits are provided. The schools that complied with the regulations were renewed and allowed to operate and were officially recognized by the new government. The new order, the new rules to be followed and the changing community structure have led to a new face for these schools. However, these developments forced many schools to decide to close themselves or to be closed by the state due to their inappropriate activities. It has been difficult for some schools to ensure that Turkish language lessons and Turkish culture courses (history, geography, sociology) are given with state policies and that teachers of these courses are accepted by schools. Despite all the regulations and inspections, foreign and minority schools have taken up missionary activities and wanted to continue their efforts to act against the state. On the other hand, these schools, which want to take part in the Turkish education system, have struggled to overcome some problems. In this research, it was discussed that schools are important institutions for students who compete in exams to take part in schools, which are preferred by students despite many regulatory and adaptation problems. In this context, it is mentioned that different segments of society have both positive and negative opinions about these schools, and although their numbers decreased considerably by 1980, these schools constitute an important part of the Turkish education system.