The Royal Ministry of Education and Research (, KD; full name: Det kongelige kunnskapsdepartement ) is a Norwegian government ministry responsible for education, research, kindergartens and integration. The ministry was established in 1814 as the Royal Ministry of Church and Education Affairs. The current Minister of Education is Tonje Brenna of the Labour Party and the current Minister of Research and Higher Education is Ola Borten Moe of the Centre Party. The department reports to the legislature (Stortinget).

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. Kindergartens were transferred to the ministry in 2006.

Name

The full formal name of the ministry is Det kongelige kunnskapsdepartement (literally "the royal ministry of knowledge"), 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 ("the ministry of knowledge").

Organisation

Political staff

As of November 2023, the political staff of the ministry is as follows:

Departments

The Ministry of Education and Research consists of seven departments:

Subsidiaries

Subordinate agencies

The following government agencies are subordinate to the ministry:

Universities

Specialised University Colleges

University Colleges

Limited companies