Why Did Sandra Borch Step Down As Norway's Education Minister?

Sandra Borch, Norway's Higher Education Minister, has resigned from her position after evidence of plagiarism emerged in her master's dissertation. Borch, a 2014 Tromsø University graduate with a Master of Jurisprudence, admitted that she had plagiarised several other students' work, including their errors. The 35-year-old Norwegian minister finally confessed to the allegations that had caused controversy for several days.

Norwegian media outlet Khrono reported that the incident came to light when a student revealed how Borch had copied parts of her dissertation from two different 2014 batch students. The post stated how her work was copied verbatim without even paying attention to oversights. Soon, an online news outlet, E24, revealed more plagiarism counts.

6/7 Sandra Borchs søken etter ‘inspirasjon’ var ennå ikke over. Hun falt pladask for en masteroppgave fra UiO (2005), med tittel: “Sikkerhetsregulering i Norsk Petroleumsrett: Om kravet til restitusjon og hvile, med særlig vekt på samsovingsproblematikken”. Bemerkelsesverdig lik… pic.twitter.com/00Lrdc18E6

— OsloStudenten (@OsloStudenten) January 18, 2024

Norway Education Minister Quits

Sandra Borch allegedly copied two other students' dissertations word-for-word and even left the typing mistakes uncorrected. E24 used software called Copyleaks to compare Borch's assignment with the others'. This comes only a week after she moved to the Supreme Court in the case of a student who had been cleared on an appeal of self-plagiarism.

The accused student had used passages from their own previous work without citing herself in an exam, leading to charges of self-plagiarism by the Norwegian Ministry of Research and Higher Education. The student was barred for two semesters (one year). They had appealed the case and were acquitted until Borch moved to the apex court of Norway.

Borch became the higher education minister last year in the centre-left government after previously serving as agriculture minister from 2021 to 2023. She represents the Centre Party. Several members of the Norwegian government have resigned in recent months because of conflicts of interest.

Recent Plagiarism Cases Across The World

Earlier this month, the prestigious Harvard University's president, Claudine Gay resigned amid plagiarism allegations. After weeks of controversy, the Harvard University Board confirmed that Gay's academic records lacked the necessary citations. Esteemed alumni from Harvard and several politicians called for Gay's resignation, forcing her to step down on January 2.

Gay also faced allegations of backing antisemitism on the Harvard campus. At a Congressional hearing, when Gay was asked to describe the necessary steps being taken to safeguard the Jewish population at Harvard, Gay responded with an ambiguous answer. "It depends on the context," she said when asked whether the code of conduct considers bullying and harassment as 'violence' against Jews.