An 86-year-old school in southern Türkiye’s Osmaniye province has been repurposed as an education museum, offering visitors a detailed look at classroom life and teaching practices dating back to the early years of the republic.
The building, located in the Düziçi district, opened in 1940 as a village institute, part of a nationwide initiative aimed at training teachers for rural areas. It was converted into a teachers’ high school in 1954 before closing in 1994, after decades of graduating students. Following years of disuse, restoration work began in 2000, and the structure reopened as a museum in 2005.
The museum displays a wide range of materials used by former students, including textbooks, handwritten assignments, photographs, musical instruments and laboratory specimens. Exhibits span multiple decades, illustrating how educational tools and curricula evolved over time.
The site is located within a large school campus that also includes former dormitories, a cafeteria and a cinema hall. School administrators say the museum attracts steady interest throughout the year, drawing students, local residents and visitors from outside the district.
Attendance increases in mid-April, when events are held to mark the anniversary of the establishment of village institutes. Former graduates, including those who attended the institution during its years as a teachers’ school, frequently visit to reconnect with their personal histories.
The museum serves a dual function, preserving institutional memory for alumni while providing younger generations with direct exposure to earlier education models and learning materials that shaped Türkiye’s modern schooling system.
