During the early 1990s, it was realized that Uganda had many Private Vocational Training Institutions (PVTIs) mushrooming in the country. The majority of these institutions produced half baked craftsmen/craftwomen because they did not have qualified personnel in management, vocational skills training, entrepreneurial skills and finance, among others and also lacked guidance. Besides, these institutions did not have a professional and coherent organization to co-ordinate them. As a result, these institutions did not provide customer oriented services as expected of them. However, they provided over 40,000 training places, compared to some 10,000 in public institutions.
Uganda to day needs the promotion of education and training of a highly skilled and versatile work force, which can promote indigenous developments as well as adopt to the emerging technology and skilled patterns.
It is against this background that on 30th November to 3rd December, 1993 German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) and the Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT) of the then Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MoLSW) organized a national conference on Technical, Vocational and Industrial Training at the International Conference Centre in Kampala.
During that conference the Directorate of Industrial Training was mandated to coordinate, enforce and administer all vocational training activities such as Standards, Curricula, Testing and Certification.
In recognition of the effort and the role played by Private Training Institutions, the Uganda Government made a Comprehensive Skills Training Policy through which Private Training Providers would form an Association that would bridge the gap between their Institutions and the Government. Thus, Directors/Principals of Private Training Institutions formed Uganda Association of Private Vocational Institutions (UGAPRIVI)on November 24th, 1998 at Lugogo Vocational Training Institute (LVTI).
UGAPRIVI is a local NGO registered under the Non-Governmental Organisations Registration Statute 1989, Ref. S.5914/3350.