Ministry of Education and Research (Norway)
The Royal Ministry of Education and Research 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 and Integration is Guri Melby of the Liberal Party and the current Minister of Research and Higher Education is Henrik Asheim of the Conservative Party. The department reports to the legislature.
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.
Organisation
Departments
The Ministry of Education and Research consists of seven departments:- Department of Integration
- 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
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.
- Unit - the Directorate for ICT and Joint Services in Higher Education and Research provides governance of and access to shared information and communications technology services.
- 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 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.
- Directorate of Integration and Diversity, or Integrerings- og mangfoldsdirektoratet is responsible for implementing public policy concerning integration.
- 22 July Information Center, or 22. juli-senteret is an information center dedicated to the 22 July 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
Specialised University Colleges
- Oslo School of Architecture and Design, or Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i Oslo
- Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, 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
- Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, or Høgskolen i Innlandet
- Sámi University College, or Samisk høgskole
- Volda University College, or Høgskolen i Volda
- Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, or Høgskolen på Vestlandet
- Østfold University College, or Høgskolen i Østfold
Limited companies
- Norwegian Centre for Research Data, or Norsk senter for forskningsdata Information and data services for higher education and research.
- University Centre in Svalbard, or Universitetssenteret på Svalbard conducts research and some university-level educational offerings in Arctic studies.
- Uninett Operates the national education and research internet communication network and the norid domain register.
- Simula Research Laboratory conducts research in the fields of networks and distributed systems, scientific computing, and software engineering.
Ministers of Education