About the Ministry

The mandate of the Ministry  of Education and Sports (MoES) is to provide quality Education and sports  services in the country, which are constitutional obligations for the Ugandan  State and Government therefore,

The Mission of the MoES is "to provide technical support, guide,  coordinate, regulate and promote quality education, training and sports to all  persons in Uganda for national integration, development and individual  advancement."

  The Vision for MoES is "Quality and appropriate Education and  Sports services, for all"

The Education and Sports  sector therefore is one of the country's key social service delivery sectors  because it delivers critical government programmes such as Universal Primary  Education (UPE), Universal Post Primary Education and Training (UPPET) as well  as sports for enhancing citizens; wellness / health, productivity and the  country's image.

The Ministry comprises of  11 Departments headed by the Permanent Secretary, Directors and Commissioners.  These Departments under four Directorates are Directorate of Basic and  Secondary Education, Directorate of Higher, Technical, Vocational Education and  Training, Directorate of Education Standards and the Directorate of Industrial  Training. There are also affiliated institutions as Education Service  Commission, Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB), and other examination  bodies including Uganda Business and Technical Examination Board, Uganda Allied  Health Examination Board, Uganda Nurses and Midwives Examination Board,  National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), National Curriculum Development  Centre (NCDC), National Council of Sports, and Uganda National Commission for  UNESCO (UNATCOM) etc.

The sector is run on a  principle of promoting Public ? Private Partnerships at all levels and the  Private sector has played significant roles in provision of Education services  especially at the post primary and tertiary education levels.

According to the Education  Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) 2004 ? 2015, the implementation of the UPE Policy  of free tuition at primary school level since 1997 has had two important  effects on enrollments:

• It has increased enrollment of children from  poor households and significantly reduced the poverty gap in terms of access to  primary education and 
• The effect of increased enrollment has been  particularly beneficial for girls who saw a higher increase in enrollment  relative to boys.

Following the launch of  Universal Primary Education in 1997, enrollment increased from over two million  pupils to the current almost eight million. To address challenges of transition  to post primary education, the Universal Post Primary Education and Training  (UPPET) programme was launched in February 2007 making Uganda the first country  in Africa to provide free education at this level. Consequently, enrollment  grew rapidly. 

The Government is also  concurrently exploring options for revitalization and or strengthening  Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to provide demands driven  skills under the encapsulating them of 'Skilling  Uganda'.

Government Of Uganda