| In Istanbul
Turkey, Galatasaray is heir to a five centuries old history
of uninterrupted education which stardet in 1481 with the establishment
of an educational institution at the present site of the Lycée
de Galatasaray, for the purpose of preparing young men for public
service. The school named "Galata Sarayi Enderun-u Humayunu"
(Galata Palace Imperial School) was probably one of the oldest
establishment of its kind in the world. After giving valuable
service to the Ottoman state for over 350 years, it was replaced
by a modern school based on the French secondary education system,
called "Lycée Impérial Ottoman de Galata-Serai"
which opened in 1868 in the same premises. After the proclamation
of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the name was changed to "Galatasaray
Lisesi" (Lycée de Galatasaray) and it became co-educational
in 1965. Lycée de Galatasaray has been, since 1992, part
of an integrated educational system consisting of the Galatasaray
Primary Education School (8 years), the Lycée (5 years)
and the Galatasaray University (4 years + postgraduate studies).
Origins, History of Lycée de Galatasaray
(1481-1830)
The origins of the school go back to the second part of the
15th Century, during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Bayezit II
(1481-1512), when the area of the present school was a thickly
wooded hill filled with game animals. To the southwest, at the
mouth of the Golden Horn stood the town of Galata, a Latin trading
colony established by Genoese merchants in Byzantine times.
The story goes that one day, Sultan Bayezit II, while hunting
in the region, came across a small cabin where an old man was
pruning his roses in the garden.
The Sultan entered his cabin for a short rest. In the course
of the conversation he learned that the old man who was called
Gülbaba (Father Rose) was actually an elder of the Bektashi
religious order.
On leaving, the Sultan asked the old man, as was the custom,
whether he had any wish that the Sultan could fulfill. Thereupon
Gülbaba begged the Sultan to set-up a home of learning
on that hill for the education of promising young men, preparing
them for services in the Palace and in state administration.
Sultan Bayezit II wasted no time in responding to the old man's
wish. So the school was built and opened in the fall of 1481
under the name "Galata Sarayi Enderun-u Hümayunu"
(Galata Palace Imperial School), the fourth of such schools
then functioning in the Empire.
Gülbaba joined the faculty of the new school and taught
there for sometime. When he died he was laid to rest nearby,
in the slope of the hill, where today his restored tomb is in
a small courtyard, in a side street down from the present school
building.
Moreover a small mosque called
Agacamii, situated on the main street, up towards Taksim Square
at 300 meters from the school gates, was built in 1597 by Hüseyin
Aga (Aga is today's school headmaster), whose tomb can be seen
in the mosque's courtyard.
Interim Period (1830-1868)
Galata Palace Imperial School continued, with various fortunes,
as an educational institution for about 350 years, when in 1830's,
with the movement of reform and reorganization , Ottoman Empire's
old institutions were gradually abolished.
Soon thereafter, the first modern Medical School was opened
by Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839) in the same premises. The faculty
was made up of French professors and the courses taught in French.
The Medical School functioned at Galata Palace buildings for
some thirty years.
Modern Period (1868-1923)
In 1867 Sultan Abdulaziz I (1861-1876) who paid a state visit
to Napoleon III was much impressed by the French education system.
It was decided then that the French will help in setting up
in Istanbul a school along the contemporary French Lycée
system and most of the courses taught in French.
The purpose was to educate promising young men from all over
the Empire in a modern way and teach them French, then the prevailing
diplomatic and commonly spoken foreign language in Europe.
The school was opened in 1868 under the name "Lycée
Impérial Ottoman de Galata-Sérai" (in Turkish:
Galatasaray Mekteb-i Sultanisi). Up to the end of the First
World War in 1918 the school continued to function in this capacity,
with a student body including boys of different religious and
ethnic groups constituting the population of the Ottoman Empire,
such as Turks, Arabs, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Levantines, Bulgarians,
Albanians, etc...
Many of the graduates of this period of some 55 years, coming
from various communities, became prominent statesmen, educators,
bureaucrats, writers etc... in Turkey as well as in their home
countries.
The influence of the Galatasaray School on the rise of modern
Turkey has been enormous. As the need for administrators, diplomats,
and others with a modern education and capacity to handle Western
administrative apparatus became more and more pressing, the
graduates of Galatasaray came to play a preponderant role in
the politics of the Ottoman Empire and, after it, of the Republic
of Turkey.
Lycée de Galatasaray is considered to be the first window
opened from East to the West. Since this period, the district
where this institution stands has been known as and called Galatasaray.
Turkish
Republic period (1923 to 1992)
With the abolition of the Ottoman Sultanate and the proclamation
of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, the name of the school was
changed to "Galatasaray Lisesi" (Lycée de Galatasaray).
The education continued in French language, from Primary school
(5 grades) to the end of Lycée (7 grades) for courses
comprising French Language and Literature, Philosophy, Mathematics,
Physics, Chemistry, English and German being taught selectively
in the last four grades.
The school became co-educational in 1968. Now girls constitute
some 40% of the student body.
Integrated Education System (1992-..)
In 1990s, Galatasaray entered another period of transformation.
The signing of Turkish- French Bilateral Agreement of 1992 led
to the foundation of Galatasaray University , which essentially
grew out of the Lycée. With the addition of a new primary
education school, the three units have emerged as autonomous
components of an integrated education system under the aegis
of the University.
The admission to the Lycée is by selective exams. Turkish
primary school graduates take a very competitive centralized
exam if they wish to be enrolled in a limited number of elite
public highschools. Galatasaray admits 100 students generally
from within the top 750 of about 600,000 candidates. Galatasaray
primary education school graduates are also admitted to the
Lycée, subject to examination. Lycée graduates
may continue their higher education in Galatasaray University,
where 25 percent of the enrollment quota is reserved for them,
also subject to examination
Until 1997, Lycée de Galatasaray was an 8 year school,
which, for graduates of 5 year compulsory primary school, involved
2 years of prep, 3 years of junior high, and 3 years of senior
highschool education. Since then, with the introduction of 8
year compulsory primary education in Turkey, Galatasaray has
become a 5 year senior highschool, including 1 year prep starting
from 2003-2004 schoolyear.
Galatasaray being a boarding school, the student body is richly
diverse, with boys and girls coming from every corner of the
country.
The current curriculum consists of a blend of Turkish and French
curricula plus a number of additional language and elective
courses. Courses on Turkish literature, Geography, History,
Ethics, and Art are taught in Turkish. French Literature, Philosophy,
Sociology, Mathematics, and Science courses use French as the
language of instruction. In addition English is taught from
the primary school's sixth grade on, Italien and Latin in the
Lycée grades.
The students set up in 1997 an English Club, where members are
participating to the Harvard Model United Nations Conferances
since that year.
Lycée de Galatasaray diploma is equivalent to the French
Baccalaureate, and graduates of Galatasaray are admitted to
universities in France without further examinations. Moreover
they have no difficulty in enrolling in best universities in
Turkey and abroad. After obtaining University degrees, many
join the Civil and Diplomatic Services as befitting their Enderun
and later, Imperial school traditions.
During 80 years of the Republican Period, there were two prime
ministers, eight foreign ministers, scores of other cabinet
ministers and undersecretaries in the State Administration among
the graduates of the Lycée. Apart from these, many academicians,
judges, educators, writers, doctors, architects, engineers,
journalists, artists, film directors, poets, painters etc...constitute
illustrious alumni of this exceptional institution.
A special place should be reserved to Galatasaray alumni who
join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They constitute an important
body in the Diplomatic Corps and the number of those that have
reached the Ambassadorial rank exceeds one hundred.
Today Lycée de Galatasaray graduates continue to occupy
high ranking political , industrial and business positions within
and outside Turkey. They are represented all around the globe
by 17 Alumni Associations, 9 in Turkey, 8 in Europe and in North
America.
They usually gather in the grounds of the Lycée every
year, on the first Sunday of June, to enjoy the traditional
Pilav day, a day of reunion and feast for all the Galatasaraylis.
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