Enderun School

Students here were primarily recruited via devşirme,[1] a system of the Islamization of Christian slave children for serving the Ottoman government in bureaucratic, managerial, and Janissary military positions.

[2] Over the centuries, the Enderun School was fairly successful in generating Ottoman statesmen by drawing among the empire's various ethnic groups and giving them a common Muslim education.

[3] The graduates were expected to devote themselves to government service and be free of links to lower social groups.

The curriculum was divided into five main divisions:[10][11][12] At the end of the Enderun school system, the graduates would be able to speak, read, and write at least three languages, able to understand the latest developments in science, have at least a craft or art, and excel in army command as well as in close combat skills.

[citation needed] One of the most distinctive properties of the school was its merit system consisting of carefully graded rewards and corresponding punishments.