Under the Kindergarten Act, municipalities act as the kindergarten authority and must ensure compliance with the Act. Under the Norwegian Education Act, counties, municipalities, and private owners are responsible for schools and must ensure that teachers have relevant, up-to-date competence, including systems for mentoring newly appointed teachers.

Responsibility for in-service training for teachers at the national level is shared among the Ministry of Education and Research, the Directorate for Education and Training and the universities and other teacher education institutions.

It is the duty of the local owners of kindergartens or schools to have a system for in-service competence development. Kindergartens and schools are required to develop a competence development plan. In-service training and continuing education can be organised at local, regional and national levels. The organizers may be local education authorities, teachers' associations, associations for special subjects in higher education institutions, regional officer’s educational departments, county education committees, national councils or national education authorities. 

At kindergarten level, there is no common time set for competence development. Kindergarten teachers have 4 hours set for planning per week, while other staff do not have such planning time. Mostly, competence development takes place outside ordinary working hours, the employer can compensate for this (by overtime or flexi time to be taken out as spear time). Staffs’ individual competence development (i.e. participation in CPD), is agreed with the employer.

At school level, part of the teacher’s working time can be allocated to joint time for competence development. Teachers will be required to attend competence development activities that take place during this joint time, while individual competence development courses are agreed upon between teachers and their school managers.

National authorities define qualification requirements for teachers and schools. The State also defines the overall framework for the teacher training programmes and contributes to competence development

A new holistic system for employees in kindergartens and schools is fully implemented from 2026. It includes all employees in kindergarten, primary and lower secondary school and after school care (SFO), upper secondary education, including apprenticeship training and upper secondary education for adults. 

The measures consist of professional guidance for newly educated teachers, continuous education, collective competence development, management education for kindergarten heads and for principals in schools. The competence development is to be based on local needs and to ensure staff participation. Municipalities, counties and private kindergarten owners are in their planning of competence development to assess and prioritise who should participate in the different measures for competence development. 

The competence development is to be based on local needs and ensure the co-determination of the employees. Individual and collective competence development should be seen in context, build on each other and complement each other. The competence the staff acquires should benefit kindergartens’ and schools’ professional learning communities. 

The professional learning is intended to build on equal partnerships between the kindergarten sector and school sector and universities and college universities. The aim is to bring experience and practice knowledge back to kindergarten or school and contribute to strengthening the teacher education. 

Incentives, supporting measures and funding for participation in continuing professional development (CPD) activities

In 2025 the government used NOK 2.9 billion on competence development for kindergarten teachers and other employees in kindergartens, after school care (‘SFO’), primary and lower secondary education and the Pedagogical Psychological services, training of adults and the culture school. The guidelines for financing of the new holistic system for competence development and career development are being developed, and the following is proposed: 

• A grant for participants in CPD whereby 25% is given as paid leave and a 25% deductible for kindergarten and school owners

• Financing of CPD provision for universities and university colleges to offer CPD and professional guidance for different groups of employees 

• The County Governor should continue to manage the grants for collective competence development 

• Kindergarten and school owners should apply for grants for implementation of professional guidance as they currently do 

• The County Authority governs the collective competence development scheme in upper secondary education