Osmanlı Ticari Denizcilik Eğitiminin Modernleşmesi Sürecinde Leyli Tüccar Kaptan Mektebi.

As official documents attest, the Boarding School for Merchant Ship Captains was the first college established in Istanbul to train merchant ship captains within the Ottoman Empire. The establishment and the regulations of the school were approved by Sultan Abdülhamid II on December 5, 1884. Nonetheless, the school’s opening was delayed until March 21, 1887, due to a lengthy process of securing budget allowances and preparing the groundwork for opening. According to its regulations, the school was established as a special branch of the Naval Academy. The mission of the school was to ensure the involvement of Ottoman citizens in the foreign-governed maritime commerce. A strong curriculum and modus operandi were set forth for this purpose. However, some inadequacies and problems emerged in the implementation, leading to unemployment among graduates. An attempt was made to solve the problem by placing the graduates in lower-ranking positions in the Navy. Graduates did not welcome this solution, which was also incompatible with the founding purpose of the school. Thus, the school was incorporated into the Naval Academy and provided education under its own name until the 1905–06 term. During the last three years of its operation, the remaining students were given the choice between a merchant and a military diploma. The school closed in 1909. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]