Expansion of secondary education in Turkey after the Second World War (1945-1964)

Abstract

This article aims to reveal the expansion of secondary education in Turkey between 1945 and 1964. The development of secondary education in Turkey up to 1945 has been studied using Müller's concept of systematisation. The expansion of secondary education between 1945 and 1964 has been analysed by considering the characteristics of education systems conceptualised by Ringer as inclusiveness, progressivism, and segmentation. The development of secondary education between 1945 and 1964 was studied by focusing on the Turkish-US interaction. The research came to the following conclusions: Although efforts were made to expand it until 1965, secondary education was not inclusive in terms of gender and geographical region. In Turkish secondary education, the schools that students attend are largely determined by the social strata of their families. In this respect, it should be said that progressivism was weak in the process of expanding high schools until 1965. From their emergence until 1965, high schools were divided into schools or programmes that differed both in their curricula and in the social strata of their students. Segmentation is quite evident in high schools. Until the 1940s, general high schools were accessible to the wealthy and urban professionals. After the 1940s, Vocational Institutes were established, attended mainly by peasants and workers.