History
During the Ottoman Empire, the Italian population of Istanbul obtained permission from the Sultan to reside and do commerce along the Golden Horn waterfront.
The community grew over the years drastically, as the rich families homeschooled their children while the poor families' children were taught by the Catholic clergy.
In 1861, with the initiative of the Italian diplomats, a part-time school was opened.
However, the Società Operaia Italiana di Mutuo Soccorso di Costantinopoli (Italian Workers' Mutual Aid Society of Constantinople) was unsatisfied with this school and threatened prosecuting the Italian government due to the fact that they didn't pay enough attention to the ex-pat schools found outside of Italy, so in the year 1888 the Royal Italian Primary & Secondary School was founded in Polonya Street.
In 1895 the Italian School of Commerce was integrated into the existing school and in 1900 a four-year secondary school section was added to the baccalaureat.
The graduates of the school could be accepted into any of the Kingdom of Italy's commerce high schools or the Eastern Institute which was in Naples.
In the 1910-1911 education year, a four-year high school, in which Latin became compulsory, was added to the baccalaureat. In the same year Turkish students were accepted for the first time.
The school was closed during the 1911-1912 Italo-Turkish War, although in 1913 it was re-opened. However, it was to be closed again on April 30, 1915, due to World War I.
In 1919, after the war, the school was re-opened in the former Austrian High School's building situated on Tomtom Kaptan Street. To date, the school is still in the same building.
In 1920 the Italian Commerce School also transferred to the same building, thus forming a school with two separate branches, containing a secondary school and a science school at the same time.
Still in 1920, preparatory classes were opened for students who did not know Italian.
The school has had to adapt to the changes over the years, and as a result in 1966, the trade school section was gradually closed down. At this point the school was offering one year of prep school, three years of secondary school, and four years of high school.
When the education law changed in Turkey in 1998 and compulsory primary school education was increased to eight years, the secondary school of Italyan Lisesi was closed permanently.
Currently the school offering is as such:
- one year preparatory school
- 1st year high school
- 2nd year high school (at the end of which one must choose between the Science section and the Turkish-maths section)
- 3rd year high school (either Turkish-maths, or Science-maths)
- 4th year high school (again, either Turkish-maths, or Science-maths)
Read more about this topic: Liceo Italiano
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