Since Saturday, news and other media have revealed that several sentences in the master’s thesis Ingvild Kjerkol and a fellow student submitted in 2021 are identical to text in other master’s theses and subject texts. First, the Minister of Health and Care explained similarities in the text due to the use of the same method, then Kjerkol admitted that parts of the text similarities in the master’s thesis originate from an earlier thesis. Nord University, which approved the master’s thesis, says they will process the case thoroughly, but cannot answer on Monday how long it will take. According to news’s experience, initial investigations that will determine whether there will be a tribunal hearing will take “a couple of weeks”. The proceedings will be closed to the public. The Prime Minister meets the press in connection with the case concerning Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol’s master’s thesis. He says he has confidence in her as minister, and will eventually get involved when the university has dealt with the matter. On Monday evening, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre says that he is awaiting the university’s assessment, and that he has confidence in Kjerkol as minister. The informant is a Labor politician Several of the identical passages in the text were found in the interviews with the informants in the master’s thesis. According to Kjerkol, there were a total of six informants, four of whom were interviewed in depth. At the weekend, the Ministry of Health and Care passed on a comment from one of the informants to VG. Then they did not state that the person is a party member of Kjerkol, as news learns. In the comment, the informant confirmed that the person in question was interviewed for Kjerkol’s master’s thesis and recognized himself. – I confirm that I have been an informant for this master’s thesis. I have read the master’s thesis and recognize my contributions to the master’s thesis of Kjerkol and the fellow student, and in what is described in the text of the thesis, it is written in the statement that was passed on by the ministry. Does not answer why news has asked Kjerkol and the ministry about why the public was not informed that the informant is a party member, but Kjerkol has not answered the question. – I am not going to comment on the assignment any more now, but will refer to Nord University who will look into the matter in the usual way in line with current routines for this. I want to be involved in the process in line with their routines, she tells news in an e-mail on Monday evening. Professor: Should have stated party affiliation immediately Kristoffer Kolltveit is professor of political science at the University of Oslo. He says that as an academic he reacts very strongly to the Kjerkol case. Photo: Tron Trondal / UiO He has, among other things, researched governments and ministers, and says the key to good crisis management is to lie flat and admit everything immediately. When asked what he thinks about news’s revelation that the informant the ministry passed on a quote from is an Ap politician, Kolltveit replies: – They should have stated that the person in question has a party affiliation. The kill in crisis management is when you are driven from redoubt to redoubt. It’s already been done here, and then this comes in addition. He points out that there should be no underlying reasons for something being said or done if people are to trust it. Competency cases are precisely about suspicions of ties. – It may well be that the informant recognizes himself and is correctly quoted, but as soon as someone suspects that he is saying it because of party affiliation, the statement has a little less value. Therefore, they should just say it once, states the professor. Defends thesis to local newspaper Kjerkol has given an interview to the local newspaper Bladet on Monday afternoon. There she further defends the assignment: – I stand by the assignment I have submitted and know very well where it is strong and where it has weaknesses, she says. The Minister of Health believes that it is natural that different experts have different opinions about the master’s thesis and the findings. – I can say that the examiner’s feedback when we submitted the thesis was very much in line with the feedback from associate professor Laudal, says Kjerkol to the Bladet. Associate Professor Thomas Laudal at the University of Stavanger has supported Kjerkol, including in “Dagsnytt 18” on Monday. There he said that there were no traces of stealing results from other tasks. Laudal has previously been involved in the Labor Party in Stavanger. He was on the party’s list in the municipality in 2007 and 2011. At the municipal election in 2023, he was in 23rd place on MDG’s list in Stavanger.
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Kjerkol’s informant is an Ap politician – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
