Pupils’ Instruction at the Rüshdiyyes in the Region of the Danube Vilayet during the 60s and 70s of Nineteenth Century

The reform process of 1840s - 1870s, the Tanzimat, was stamped by the close collaboration between the Ottoman Empire and France. So the structure and the actual tasks of many state and educational institutions were modeled on French patterns. Some reform endeavors were initiated on the very eve of the Tanzimat. One of them was the proposal to launch a school referred as rüshdiyye. At the beginning of 1839 the rüshdiyye schools were designed to provide the pupils with basic skills necessary for the successful training at the vocational schools. During the period of reforms the educational goals of the rüshdiyyes gradually matched up these of the French “superior primary schools” including the accomplishment of reading and writing skills, the acquirement of common practical knowledge about the world. The lessons in religion had to inspire the children with deep devotion and high responsibility to their country and the sultan. Seeking to carry out those aims the Ottoman government established a widespread network of rüshdiyyes. While highlighting the general features of the rushdiyye’s curriculum the present paper focuses on the actual knowledge which the boys in the Danube region acquired at these schools. It is based on newspaper notes and Ottoman documents hold at the Oriental Department by the “St. Cyril and Methodius” National Library in Sofia. The inquiry into the actual instruction at the rüshdiyyes of the Danube vilayet evinces that the implementation of their educational purposes was impeded by couple of reasons: the irregular supply of textbooks, the short time for the mastering of all subjects, the insufficient schooling of the pupils who had been enrolled at the rüshdiyyes, the inadequate training or the poor self- discipline of several teachers, the promptly settling of the appointment formalities and the unfriendly behavior to the students.