What is the Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrisat, When Was It Adopted?

We can make many positive criticisms about the Ottoman Empire, but unfortunately the education system did not have many positive aspects. For many years, the state did not interfere in the education of the people except for Enderun. Even if this situation was changed in the 19th century, a complex system still emerged. At work The Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrîsât was designed to eliminate this confusion in the republican period. has been removed.

With the Law of Unification of Education, the education system was connected to the Ministry of National Education so that everyone in the country could study with equal opportunities. Thanks to the control mechanism established, it was aimed that everyone living in the Republic of Turkey would participate in the modern education system and the way for many revolutions was thus paved. Bride What is the Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrîsât, when was it accepted, what is its importance Let’s examine all the details.

For those who don’t know, let’s briefly explain; What is the Law of Unification of Education?

The Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrîsât, that is, the Law on the Union of Education in today’s Turkish, with the law number 430. It is an education law adopted by the Turkish Grand National Assembly. With this law, all educational institutions in the Republic of Turkey were subordinated to the Ministry of Education.

The Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrîsât, which was protected in Article 153 of the Constitution of 1961 on the Protection of Revolutionary Laws, is still in force today. Article 174 of the 1982 Constitution on the Protection of Revolutionary Laws It is defined as uninterpretable and protected by 7 laws.

When was the Law of Unification of Education accepted?

The Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrisât, numbered 430, which forms the basis of the education system of the Republic of Turkey, was passed by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Adopted on March 3, 1924. The Law on the Abolition of the Ministry of Sharia and Foundations was also adopted on the same day as the Law on Tevhîd-i Tedrisât.

To understand the purpose of the Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrîsât, it is necessary to look at the Ottoman education system:

In the Ottoman Empire, there were Enderun School to train statesmen and a few important madrasahs to train clergy. Apart from these, the state was not interested in the education system. Of course, it was understood that this was nonsense and with the westernization in the 19th century, many new educational institutions began to be opened.

The Ottoman State supported the opening of primary schools called iptidai, but on the other hand, in small villages and neighborhoods under the direction of imams. neighborhood schools and primary schools continued their activities.

On the other side, there were secondary and higher education schools called Rüştiye, Sultani, İdadi, Darülfünun. The madrasahs that make up the two-headed On the one hand, because they continued their educational activities, a situation called madrasah-school duality had occurred. Moreover, there were many minority and foreign schools carrying out missionary activities in the Ottoman lands.

Since different schools of education are applied in all these educational institutions, who learns what, It was not possible to understand whether children who are good for the country and the nation are raising. In order to eliminate all this confusion, the education system of the Republic of Turkey was regulated by the Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrîsât and it was decided to be controlled from a single center.

Those who used religion for their own purposes received a great blow:

There were 18 thousand students in 479 madrasahs known at the time when the Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrîsât was accepted. You may think that beautiful young people receive religious education, but unfortunately this was not the case. Since madrasah students were exempted from military service, more than 12 thousand of these 18 thousand students remained only on paper. All the neighborhood schools and madrasas were closed.

Without exploiting people’s feelings In order to raise people who will tell the true religion In 1934, the Institute for Islamic Studies was established. In 1924, 29 Imam Hatip Schools were established, but these schools were closed in 1931 because there was no student demand. Along with the Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrîsât, religious classes were abolished depending on the principle of secularism. Between 1939 and 1948, religion lessons were not given in any formal education institution.

Strict control began in foreign schools:

Minority schools and foreign schools carrying out missionary activities were placed under probation. Religious and political lessons were banned and Turkish lessons were added. Images of saints in books were removed, crosses were lowered, and religious symbols were only allowed in churches. In other words, these schools would no longer be able to carry out missionary activities, they would only provide education. Many of them were closed for this reason.

Military schools were run by soldiers:

The situation of military idadis was given special importance as it constituted a national security problem and all of these idadis were converted into military high schools. With a separate law enacted in 1925 supporting the Law of Unification of Education. military high schools were connected to the Ministry of National Defense and thus military students were provided with a healthy education free from possible provocations.

Why is the Law of Unification of Education so important?

The education system of a country is the main reason for its existence. Unfortunately, according to many historians, the Ottoman Empire was destroyed because it did not attach importance to education. Because people who are not well educated cannot do that job with sufficient awareness no matter what job they are doing. Moreover, since it is not known who has learned what in a complex education system, the proficiency of even an educated person is not known. Here, the Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrîsât eliminated all this confusion and laid the foundations of a secular education system.

Closure of dervish lodges and zaviyes after the Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrîsât and The first step of many important revolutions, such as the Alphabet Revolution, was taken. In other words, a truly national education, free from all kinds of religious exploitation, was only possible with the unifying rules of education such as the Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrîsât.

The full text of the Law of Unification of Education:

Law Number : 430

Acceptance Date : 3/3/1340

Published in the R. Newspaper : Date : 6/3/1340 Issue: 63

Published Code: Arrangement: 3 Volumes: 5 Pages: 322

• Article 1 – All the institutions in Türkiye are affiliated with the Ministry of Education, including science and education.
• Article 2 – All madrasahs and schools managed by the Şer’iye and Evkaf Ministry or private foundations were transferred and attached to the Ministry of Education.
• Article 3 – The amount allocated to the ministry and education in the budget of the Ministry of Sharia and Evkaf will be transferred to the Ministry of Education.
• Article 4 – The Ministry of Education will establish a Faculty of Theology in Darülfünun to train high religious specialists, and separate schools for the training of officials responsible for the performance of religion, such as imamate and oratory.
• Article 5 – Since the publication of this law, the education and training of the general public, and the military high school and high schools who have been affiliated with the Defense National, and the Ministry of Health, have been attached to the Ministry of Education together with their budgets and delegations. As a matter of fact, the contacts of the aforementioned high school and high school committees will be bonded and arranged between the Deputies to which they belong, and the teachers who have been members of the army until that time will maintain their ratio to the army.
• (Annex: 22/4/1341 – 637/1 art.) Military high schools originating from the Military Academy were transferred to the Ministry of Defense with their budgets and staff.
• Article 6 – This law is valid from its historical publication.
• Article 7 – The Executive Board is responsible for the enforcement of this law.

Forming the foundations of the modern education system of the Republic of Türkiye. What is the Law of Tevhîd-i Tedrîsât, when was it accepted? We talked about why this law is so important for our country’s education system, by answering questions such as: