Ministry of Education and Research (Norway)

The Royal Ministry of Education and Research is a Norwegian government ministry responsible for education, research and kindergartens. The ministry was established in 1814 as the Royal Ministry of Church and Education Affairs.
The current Minister of Education is Kari Nessa Nordtun and the current Minister of Research and Higher Education is Sigrun Gjerløw Aasland, both of whom are of the Labour Party The department reports to the legislature.

WWW kunnskapsdepartementet.no 𝕏 Kunnskapsdep FB kunnskapsdepartementet

History

The ministry was established in 1814, following the dissolution of Denmark–Norway, in which the joint central government administration of the two formally separate but closely integrated kingdoms, had been based in Copenhagen. Originally named the Ministry of Church and Education Affairs, the ministry was the first of six government ministries established in 1814, and was also known as the First Ministry. The other ministries were the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Police, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of War.
Norway was in a union with Sweden with a common foreign and defense policy until 1905, however church and educational policy was entirely the domain of each respective national government.
The ministry was previously responsible for church affairs, but this function was transferred to the Ministry of Culture in 2002. Responsibility for kindergarten policy was transferred to the ministry in 2006.

Name

The full formal name of the ministry is Det kongelige kunnskapsdepartement, but this name tends to be used only on formal occasions and in formal letters. In everyday speech the ministry is known by the short form Kunnskapsdepartementet.

Organisation

Political staff

As of September 2025, the political staff of the ministry is as follows:

Minister of Education Kari Nessa Nordtun
* State Secretary Synnøve Mjeldheim Skaar
* State Secretary Øyvind Jacobsen
* State Secretary Sindre Lysø
* Political Adviser Ingrid Tønseth Myhr
Minister of Research and Higher Education Sigrun Gjerløw Aasland
* State Secretary Eileen Fugelsnes
* Political Adviser Munir Jaber

Departments

The Ministry of Education and Research consists of six departments:

Department of Schools and Kindergartens
Department of Education, Training and Skills Policy
Department of Administration and Strategic Priorities
Department of Legal Affairs
Department of Governance of Higher Education and Research Institutions
Department of Higher Education, Research and International Affairs
The Communication Unit

Subsidiaries

Subordinate agencies

The following government agencies are subordinate to the ministry:

Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education, or Nasjonalt organ for kvalitet i utdanningen conducts quality assurance of higher education institutions and tertiary vocational training, as well as recognition of degrees from foreign countries.Norwegian Agency for International Cooperation and Quality Enhancement in Higher Education, or Direktorat for internasjonalisering og kvalitetsutvikling i høyere utdanning promotes international cooperation in higher education and research.Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund, or Statens lånekasse for utdanning awards loans and grants to students.
Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service, or Samordna opptak coordinates admission to most undergraduate courses at state universities and colleges.Skills Norway, or Kompetanse Norge works in areas such as adult education in basic skills, Norwegian language and socio-cultural orientation, vocational training, career advice and matching skills with the needs of the labour market.Sikt, or Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research runs information technology services in the research and education sectors.Research Council of Norway, or Norges forskningsråd is responsible for research funding and research policy.The Norwegian National Research Ethics Committees, or De nasjonale forskningsetiske komiteene are professionally independent agencies for questions regarding research ethics, and for investigating misconduct in all fields of study. Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, or Utdanningsdirektoratetet is responsible for the development of primary and secondary education. Approves the primary and secondary school curriculum.Statped is a national service for special needs education for county municipalities and municipalities.National Parents' Committee for Kindergartens, or Foreldreutvalget for barnehager ensures that the voices of parents are heard in debates on kindergarten policy, and it also acts as the Ministry of Education and Research's advisory and consultative body representing parents interests.National Parents' Committee for Primary and Secondary Education, or Foreldreutvalget for grunnskolen ensures that the voices of parents are heard in debates on education policy, and it also acts as the Ministry of Education and Research's advisory and consultative body representing parents' interests.22 July Centre, or 22. juli-senteret is an information centre dedicated to the 2011 terrorist attacks in Norway, in Oslo and at Utøya.
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, or Norsk utenrikspolitisk institutt Foreign policy research.VEA – State School for Gardeners and Florists, or Norges grønne fagskole - Vea Educates gardeners and flower decorators at secondary school level.

Universities

Nord University, or Nord universitet
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, or Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, or Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
University of Bergen, or Universitetet i Bergen
University of Oslo, or Universitetet i Oslo
University of Stavanger, or Universitetet i Stavanger
University of Tromsø, or Universitetet i Tromsø
University of Agder, or Universitetet i Agder Oslo Metropolitan University, or Oslomet – storbyuniversitet
University of South-east Norway, or Universitetet i Sørøst-Norge University of Inland Norway, or ''Universitetet i Innlandet''

Specialised University Colleges

Oslo School of Architecture and Design, or Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i Oslo
Norwegian School of Economics, or Norges handelshøgskole
Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, or Norges idrettshøgskole
Norwegian Academy of Music, or Norges musikkhøgskole
Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, or Norges veterinærhøgskole Oslo National Academy of the Arts, or Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society, or Det teologiske menighets fakultet BI Norwegian Business School, or Handelshøyskolen BI Molde University College, or ''Høgskolen i Molde - Vitenskapelig høgskole i logistikk''

University Colleges

Sámi University of Applied Sciences, or Sámi allaskuvla
Volda University College, or Høgskulen i Volda
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, or Høgskulen på Vestlandet
Østfold University College, or ''Høgskolen i Østfold''

Limited companies

University Centre in Svalbard, or Universitetssenteret på Svalbard conducts research and some university-level educational offerings in Arctic studies.

Simula Research Laboratory conducts research in the fields of networks and distributed systems, scientific computing, and software engineering.