A unique higher education experience in Turkey's development adventure: Zonguldak State Engineering and Architecture Academy (1975-1982)

The Zonguldak State Engineering and Architecture Academy is a continuation of a school that has been continuing since the Zonguldak Engineering School Alisi (1924-1932), which is considered the first university of the Republic of Turkey. The Zonguldak State Engineering and Architecture Academy, which provided education in Zonguldak between 1975-1982, was based on the principle of a social state in its historical context, corresponding to the period of welfare states, and pursued a policy of spreading public education as much as possible, is to examine the Zonguldak State Engineering and Architecture Academy in relation to the educational policies of the period; to reveal the contributions of this academy to the development of the city and the country as an original educational experience and to draw lessons about today's higher education policies. Since the research covers a historical period, it was designed as a qualitative research using oral history and document analysis methods. In order to collect data in the research, documents such as books, articles, photographs, semi-structured and unstructured interview forms, audio and video recordings were used. The study group interviewed within the scope of oral history consists of six students, three academic staff and two administrative staff who studied at the Zonguldak State Engineering and Architecture Academy between 1975-1982. The following results were obtained in line with the objectives of the research: The academy has the same facilities as a university in terms of physical structure, laboratory facilities and lodgings; it is seen that it does not have any infrastructure problems especially in practical trainings since it can also use the facilities of the state-owned Ereğli Coal Enterprises (EKİ). It has been understood that the school makes significant contributions to the cultural and social life of the city, as well as the city and country economy, both due to the importance of underground resources in terms of industrialization and development, and the educational opportunities offered at this school. It has been determined that after 1980, with the YÖK Law, this school was connected to Hacettepe University without the opinion of the students and staff; and at the same time, 13 State Engineering and Architecture Academies that were already in existence were closed by being connected to various universities or by being transformed into universities together with other institutional structures. In the interviews conducted with the witnesses of the period, the opinion that closing the Academies was not a correct decision came to the fore. It was stated that the academy, which had its own budget and funds before the transformation, lost its autonomy and economic freedom as a result of being connected to Hacettepe University as the Zonguldak Faculty of Engineering, and that prolonged bureaucratic processes made the Faculty's problems even more unsolvable. Keywords: State Engineering and Architecture Academies, Education Policies, YÖK Law