The Popularisation of Technical Education
In 1941 the Undersecretariat of Vocational and Technical Education was founded. The Professional Engineer School was taken over from the Ministry of Public Works (1944). New art institutes and middle art scchools for men were opened. Later on, these were followed by evening art schools. Art schools for women were opened; localized and mobile courses for women and men were organised. By 1949, the number of these courses reached 470.
The Translation of World Classics
With the contributions of Hasan Ali Yücel, a publication congress was organized for the first time and a Translation Board was formed. A translation Office was established and the translation of the classics started in 1940. By 1946 the number of translated classics was 467. This number reached 676 in 1950. In addition, the Ministry of Education opened salesrooms called publishing houses in various parts of the country for the sale of these books.
Education of Fine Arts: The Law of Highly-gifted Children
The Ankara Conservatory was reorganised in 1940 as The State Conservatory and was divided into two branches : music and acting. The opera division was added shortly after. On November 10,1949, The General Directorate of State Theater was founded. In addition to these developments there were developments also in the area of ballet. A ballet school was opened in Istanbul on January 6, 1948.
In 1946, the law numbered 4933, also called “The İnönü Gifts Law”, was enacted for the purpose of supporting scientific studies and artistic works. A separate law was enacted on July 7,1948,to enable children who were assessed to be highly gifted in music, to develop their abilities abroad, at educational institutions which were considered to be the best in their fields and become world wide artists.Thus, highly gifted children, chosen by the Ministry of National Education, would be sent abroad and their expenses would be paid by the state. İdil Biret and Suna Kan were the first highly gifted children to be sent abroad.
