Aprons and academic training are compulsory!
With only a few days left until the new academic year, a circular has once again been published by the Ministry of National Education (MEB). From the years when teachers and students were the subjects of education to the present day, we are living through an era where all decisions are taken from above via circulars and regulations. In the 2020s, we repeatedly reminisce about the education of the 1940s in the "Former Turkey".
In the 1940s, the administrations of the Village Institutes (Köy Enstitüleri) had decentralised management authority. Each institute planned its own daily operations and, partially, its curriculum. In the meetings held one day a week—also known as criticism days or Saturday meetings—everything was discussed openly. It was a fundamental educational practice where students and teachers evaluated what had been done throughout the week, engagin