Location
The village of Çaykişla is situated within the Province of Sakarya and is located approximately 8 kilometers east of Adapazari, Turkey. The village dates back to the 1800’s and gets its name from an old military barracks located near a stream - hence the name Çaykişla. In the late 1800’s many immigrants from former Yugoslavia settled in the village. The village today has a population of approximately 1,400.
Çaykişla School History
The Çaykişla Primary School dates as far back as 1926. At that time the two story building contained one classroom and lodging. In 1943 it expanded to a 3 classroom school and in 1946 had its first graduates. From this point on it began to serve other nearby villages as it continues to do today. Up to 1967 it had graduated 296 students with only one student going on to High School. From 1967 up to 1994 there were 1,068 graduates and 65 went onto High School and 14 to University.
From the early 1990’s the building, although expanded over the years, fell into a state of disrepair and was considered unsafe. The 1999 earthquake managed to put an end to its existence. A temporary prefabricated structure was erected to replace it in February of 2000. The prefab structure was completed within 6 months and was to be replaced within a year or two. Due to State budget constraints it still exists today.
Today the Çaykişla School serves 240 students from the villages of Çaykişla, Seyh and Saricalar. The building is in a serious state of disrepair and is marginal at best. Sewer odors prevail; classrooms sized for 25 students are serving 45. The Library consists of a 40 book cabinet located in the main hall, there is no Science Laboratory and the Computer room is unusable. The facility has numerous health hazards.
There are 14 dedicated teachers and two personnel holding this school together along with the hope and wishes of 240 children.
