EDUCATION OF GIRLS IN THE PROVINCE OF THESSALONIKI DURING THE OTTOMAN MODERNIZATION PROCESS

The education of girls in the Ottoman Empire was carried out in traditional primary schools until the Tanzimat period. There were no above-primary schools for girls. During the Tanzimat Period, the first girls' rüşdiye school (advanced primary) above primary schools was opened in Istanbul in 1859. With the Maârif-i Umûmiye Nizâmnâmesi (Regulation on General Education) dated 1869, the education of girls was redesigned, and it was decided to open primary and rüşdiye schools for girls outside of Istanbul. The newly designed primary schools would have a different structure from the traditional ones. In this study, the establishment and development of the schools opened for the education of girls in the province of Thessaloniki, the interest of the people of Thessaloniki in these institutions, and the problems encountered were evaluated. The study also reveals what kind of development took place in girls’ education outside the capital Istanbul during the Ottoman modernization process.