Education in Urfa and Siverek According to the Statistics for the 1925–1926 School Year from the Ministry of Education’s Statistical Journal

Abstract

Starting with the Tanzimat period—a major turning point in the Ottoman bureaucratic transformation—the state began compiling statistics that revealed its potential in areas such as population, military, economy, and culture. One such set of statistics pertained to education, making it possible to obtain data on the number of schools, students, and teachers. This tradition, which began in the Ottoman Empire, continued unchanged during the Republican era, and these records on education were published by the Ministry of Education under the title “İhsaiyat Mecmuası.”

            This study aims to reveal the educational potential of the Urfa and Siverek provinces—which were merged under the Urfa province following the 1926 Law on the Organization of Local Administration—during the early Republican era. Important data, such as the number of schools, students, and teachers, as well as the condition of school buildings, were obtained for these two provinces. The results of the study show that the figures from the early years of the Republic were lower compared to those from the Ottoman period. Although Harran is mentioned in the statistical records, no data was provided for it, and the names of some districts were not listed at all.