The Izmir Girls’ High School, a pioneering establishment within the historical past of the Republic of Türkiye, is celebrating its centenary with profound respect. This reverence is attributed to 2 visits by the nation’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and the numerous completed alumnae who’ve performed a pivotal function in advancing girls’s standing and societal progress within the newly established nation.
Amid Atatürk’s unflagging dedication to schooling, elevating girls’s participation in society with excellent professions and roles was a paramount precedence within the newly established Republic of Türkiye, after six centuries of Ottoman rule.
The declaration of the republic on Oct. 29, 1923, additionally repleted with the institution of many colleges and universities that emphasised trendy and internationally acknowledged disciplines, in distinction to the standard Ottoman medreses.
During a time when solely two ladies’ excessive faculties had been established, considered one of them, the Izmir Girls’ High School, acquired two visits from “Headteacher” Atatürk.
In the 12 months 1925, when the college produced its first graduates and hosted the good chief, there have been simply three graduates.
Nevertheless, Atatürk, a staunch advocate of women’ schooling, perceived this modest quantity because the harbinger of a burgeoning instructional fervor.
In the college’s guestbook, which was then positioned in a mansion in right now’s Alsancak district, Atatürk wrote, “I’m more than happy with my go to to Izmir Girls’ High School. The critical and well-directed efforts of the headmistress and male academics are conspicuous, deserving each esteem and admiration. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Oct. 14, 1925.”
Atatürk’s second go to transpired within the faculty’s up to date edifice, which stands to this present day as a testomony to its enduring legacy.
According to memoirs, Atatürk entered school rooms, conversed with college students, spoke in French throughout a category, learn texts at a literature lesson, posed questions throughout geometry class, participated in artwork actions and toured the science laboratories. Many people who had been college students at the moment wrote of their memoirs that they might always remember the day when Atatürk, the top instructor, attended their courses.
At the top of the day, within the reminiscence e-book offered to him for the second time, Atatürk wrote: “I’m notably happy with the self-discipline I witnessed at Izmir Girls’ High School, in addition to the good care and enthusiasm in imparting and buying data and nationwide schooling. I thank the educators. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Feb. 1, 1931.”
The present principal of the college and a 1993 alumna, Suna Yoldaş Özdemirçelik, highlighted the college’s function in nurturing an impressive era and pioneering girls who exerted a profound affect on the trajectory of Türkiye.
“For instance, Ilhan Ayverdi, the daughter of a family from Manisa sent to study in Izmir, became the founder of a literary foundation. Nermin Abadan Unat, one of the first female academicians at the Law Faculty, graduated from here.”
She famous that the college proudly celebrates the centenary of the republic by recognizing its function in shaping Türkiye’s improvement, taking initiative and serving for example to quite a few influential and pioneering girls by means of its instructional contributions.
Source: www.dailysabah.com