The Commission of National Education (Polish: Komisja Edukacji Narodowej, KEN, Lithuanian: Edukacinė komisija) was the central educational authority in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, created by the Sejm and King Stanisław II August on October 14, 1773. Because of its vast authority and autonomy, it is considered the first education ministry in European history and an important achievement of the Polish Enlightenment.

The chief reason behind its creation was that in Poland and Lithuania, the Jesuits ran an extensive system of educational institutions. Although the Jesuit schools were fairly efficient and provided the Polish youth with a good education, they were also very conservative. In addition, in 1773 the Pope decided to close down the Jesuit order (Dominus ac Redemptor). This threatened a complete breakdown of education in the Commonwealth.

One of the first items on the parliamentary agenda of the Partition Sejm (1773–1775), which acceded to the First Partition of Poland, was the assessment in how to best use the former Jesuit property and declaration of a firm intention to the continuity of the education system.

The commission was formally created on October 14, 1773. It was one of the newly set-up "Grand Commissions"; organisations with the status of a ministry, albeit with a collegiate structure. Its main mastermind and chief figure was a Catholic priest, Hugo Kołłątaj; other notable supporters included Ignacy Potocki and Adam K. Czartoryski. Initially, the governing body consisted of four senators and four members of the Sejm, half of them representing the eastern "counties" voivodships of the Commonwealth (from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania). The first head of the KEN was Prince Bishop Michał Jerzy Poniatowski. Although the other members were mostly magnate politicians, the main founders of the body were the prominent writers and scientists of the epoch: Franciszek Bieliński, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Feliks Oraczewski, Andrzej Gawroński, Dawid Pilchowski, Hieronim Stroynowski and Grzegorz Piramowicz. They were joined by Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, the secretary of the king of Poland (and father of the founder of the DuPont company).

Despite the fact that, initially, the KEN had to face a strong opposition in the Sejm, it was supported by both the monarch and the Familia party, which accorded it almost complete independence in management of its affairs.

In 1773 the KEN was granted much of the former property of the Jesuit order, including all the schools, and many palaces and Church-owned villages. Due to this fact, the commission had not only benefited from the necessary infrastructure, but also had its own profit-yielding farms.

The commission supervised two universities (Jagiellonian University in Kraków and Vilnius University in Vilnius), 74 secondary schools and about 1600 parish schools. The third university in the Commonwealth, Lwów University, had been lost to the Austrian Partition.

Soon afterwards Hugo Kołłątaj prepared a three-level-based education plan: