On education in the village with Gülümser Yücel: “They were telling us how important this education issue is, without any pressure, isn't it wonderful?”

We are walking on the streets of Şişli in February. Even though it is February, the weather is not very cold, there is a little wind. Memories of old Istanbul accompany us as we walk. We get excited when we arrive at Gülümser Yücel's house. Ms. Gülümser makes us feel as if we have known each other for many years when she welcomes us. When we go inside, the feeling of memory that accompanies the streets of old Istanbul continues. On the walls are his childhood photographs, his father Hasan Âli Yücel's photographs, his pen, his business card, the table where they used to eat since they were little, and his grandmother's antique items... 

We begin our interview while witnessing history up close. Among these memories, we would like to thank Ms. Gülümser for spending time with us, and we ask about the village and the village schools. He smiles. As someone who grew up in a house where villages and the education there were talked about and discussed during the village institutes, village institutes come to my mind, I have never heard of any other village school being discussed or discussed. "My father (Hasan Âli Yücel) always had the idea of ​​Village Institutes in his mind and you know how much effort he put into this," he says.

While we are sitting at the table right in front of us, thinking about what was discussed years ago to ensure that children living in villages could receive a better education, we ask Ms. Gülümser if she has any memories of the Village Institutes. 

One day, when I was young, I went to a ceremony. The then President İsmet İnönü and Prime Minister Şükrü Saraçoğlu were also present at that ceremony. Can you imagine, I was sitting right behind them. They have prepared a platform instead of the threshing floor, there is a piano, a violin, a kopuz, and the children play these instruments, they sewed all the clothes themselves, and play their games. It's like a theater being staged in a public house in Ankara. I can never forget this moment, says Ms. Gülümser, and adds, "Since there was not much money in the country at that time, my father made an agreement with Sümerbank and the same color and quality fabric was sent to all schools, so that they would not say that one village institute dressed better than the other, and so that the children would not feel bad." Of course, these uniforms are sewn in the village institutes' own workshops and they are all identical. These children perform their own shows in the villages. 

The sound of instruments being played, scenes from theater plays being performed and the atmosphere of the environment fill the room. That's right, Ms. Gülümser's living room is in a completely different time. While we hear about the past of education in the village, thoughts about today and the future also revolve in our minds, and as KODA, we have been working with teachers, parents, future teachers and teacher candidates for 7 years so that children in the villages can receive a better education. We know that the issue of better education in the village is an important issue not only today but also for the future, we tell Ms. Gülümser. 

Yes, there is also this, he says with excitement, one of the reasons why village institutes work so well is that everyone works together on this issue. Everyone, from the headman to the district governor, from the mayor to the directorate of national education, works in cooperation. For example, if a family does not want to send their daughter to school, the headman gets involved, the district governor, the governor, all of them were trying to solve this problem and explain how important education is. They were explaining, without force, how important this issue of education is, isn't it wonderful? Children were happy when the headman, district governor, governor and teacher were all together. Children who graduated from schools at that time also say these things. I wish they had archived the memories of the children who graduated at that time, I wish I had done it. 

As we come to the end of our conversation, we tour the room with Ms. Gülümser. She explains each photograph, and as Ms. Gülümser explains, we ask questions. As we listen, we wander from time to time, from memory to memory. 

When we say thank you and go out to the street, the memories in the room start to run through the streets of Istanbul and the things we will do for better education in the village start to talk to us in our minds. 

February 2024, Istanbul