Examination of the sustainability and functionality of village life centers

Various policies and regulations have been made since the foundation of the Republic in order to find solutions to the problems of village schools in Turkey. Most recently, the Ministry of National Education launched the village life centers project, starting in Samsun in 2022. Village life centers aim to make unused village school buildings available for various educational and social activities. In this study, it is aimed to determine the functionality, sustainability, advantages or disadvantages of village life centers. Basic qualitative research design, which is one of the qualitative research designs among the research methods, was used in the study. The study group of the research consists of administrators, teachers and adult trainees who are also parents of students working in Village Life Centers in Uşak City Center and its districts in the 2022-2023 academic year. In the 2022-2023 academic year, there are 2 schools as village life centers, one of which is a primary school and the other is a preschool. Additionally, there are 6 schools in total, including 1 primary school in Banaz district, 2 preschools in Ulubey district, and 1 preschool in Karahallı district. Considering the existing village life centers, the total number of participants consists of 15 people, 9 of whom are teachers and principal officials, 6 of whom are student parents and also adult trainees. A semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher by reviewing the literature and expert opinion was used as a data collection tool in the study. The data obtained were analyzed by descriptive analysis technique and presented in codes, categories and themes. As a result of the research; the opening of the Village Life Centers was welcomed positively by teachers and parents, but the view that it was not sustainable came to the fore. There was a common consensus on the physical deficiencies, heating and toilet problems. It is seen that the participants expressed negative opinions about the difficulties and in adequacies of multigrade application, that social life is not sufficient, and that technology is not used enough in education or can not be used due to impossibilities. Positive opinions were reported regarding the fact that parents are willing to send their children to preschool classes, there is no problems of absenteeism, parents support the school financially and morally, students have easier access to school compared to bussed education, and school-family cooparation operates in a healty manners. In addition to this, it was also suggested that teachers experience professional atrophy in working in the village and that village teachers should be granted some privileges in terms of personal rights. In addition, it was suggested that teachers working in these villages have serious problems in meeting basic needs and teaching in unified classrooms, and that legal arrangements should be made quickly to eliminate these problems and their personal rights should be improved. In terms of adult education, it was seen that the courses opened were inadequate but contributed to the villagers economically, the courses opened should not only be for women, but should be suitable for the livelihoods and production activities of the region and the villagers should be encouraged to these courses and suggestions were made.