The Pope's decision to close down the Jesuit order in 1773 could result in a complete breakdown of education in the Commonwealth, as the Jesuits control education in Poland and Lithuania almost entirely.

The Jesuit schools are fairly efficient and provide the Polish youth with a good education, but they are also very conservative.

The Sejm and King Stanisław August Poniatowski respond by creating the Commission of National Education (Polish: Komisja Edukacji Narodowej, abbreviated KEN) on October 14, 1773 as the central educational authority in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Because of its vast authority and autonomy, it is considered the first ministry of education in history and an important achievement of the Polish Enlightenment.

A Catholic priest, Hugo Kołłątaj, is its main organizer and chief figure.

The body is formed initially of four senators and four members of the Sejm, half of them representing the eastern voivodeships of the Commonwealth (from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania).

The first head of the KEN is Prince Bishop Michał Jerzy Poniatowski.

The other members are mostly magnate politicians, but prominent writers and scientists of the epoch are the factual creators of the body: Franciszek Bieliński, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, Feliks Oraczewski, Andrzej Gawroński, Dawid Pilchowski, Hieronim Stroynowski and Grzegorz Piramowicz.

They are joined by Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, the secretary of the King of Poland (and father of the founder of the DuPont company).

The KEN initially faces strong opposition inside of the Sejm, but the support of both the king and the Familia party gives it almost complete independence.

The KEN is granted all the former property of the Jesuit order, including the schools, palaces and church-owned villages, investing the Commission with not only the necessary infrastructure, but also its own profitable farms.