Ken’ân Rifâî’s second post as provincial director of education was in the province of Adana.
He was only 23 years old when he was appointed to this post. After taking office, he identified the situation of educational institutions in Adana and its surroundings and set out to meet their needs. The tradition of primary education was well established in the region, but there were only three secondary schools and one high school in the entire sanjak. Rifâî traveled to certain centers in the region to raise public awareness and create opportunities to build schools.
Adana was a sanjak with a strong economy due to its geographical and geopolitical situation at the time. While Ken’ân Rifâî was in charge here, he tried to improve the educational situation of the region by directing the city’s material resources to educational affairs. He developed collaborations with regional officials such as the then governor Şakir Pasha.
However, this reformist attitude drew the ire of some and he was slandered. Ken’ân Rifâî writes the following about the real reason for these slanders:
“When I arrived in Adana, ten teachers appeared before me in tattered clothes and told me that they had not been paid for ten months. I immediately convened the Education Council, explained the situation and asked for a solution. We dismissed a person who was receiving 2000 kuruş per month unnecessarily in my office. Those who resented this situation filed a libel petition.”
One of Rifâî’s important activities in Adana was to control the foreign schools in the region. In fact, non-Muslims, who were about to take over the commercial life, were also ahead of the Muslim population in the field of education, both in terms of schools and the number of students. Foreign schools of French and American origin are also becoming more common. Rifāʾī struggled to counterbalance the influence of foreign schools in the region on Ottoman education.
Ken’ân Rifâî’s period as director of education in Adana is an important period that shows his determination in education, his determination to overcome difficulties and his honesty. These lessons, both in his personal and professional life, laid the foundation for his success in his later years.
