UNEB History
Mission Statement:
The Mission is “to provide for, support, guide, coordinate, regulate and promote quality education and sports to all persons in Uganda for national integration, individual and national development”.
Vision Statement:
The Vision for the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports is “Quality Education and Sports For All”
Strategic Objectives
1. To ensure universal and equitable access to quality basic education for all children through:
Universal Primary Education for children from 6 years to 12 years
Education for the disadvantaged groups from 6 years to 18 years
2. To improve the Quality of Education in the following levels:-
In Post-primary Education by ensuring achievements attainment targets andpass rates in English, Mathematics, Science and Information Technology.
3. To ensure equal access by Gender, District and Special Needs at all levels of Education.
4. To build capacity of districts by helping Education Managers acquire and improve on their knowledge, skills and attitudes to be able to plan, monitor, account and perform managerial functions.
The mandate of the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports (MoESTS) 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 MoESTS 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 MoESTS 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’.