The history of training technicians in Engineering and Surveying in Uganda dates back to 1922 when a pioneering group of students were admitted to Makerere Technical College.

Over time the Survey technician’s course was transferred to Nakawa Vocational School and then to Katabi Entebbe in 1944. From 1996 onwards, the Government of Uganda has been carrying out the Public Service Reform Program whose objective is to improve efficiency and effectiveness within the Public Service.

One of the Key components of this reform is the restructuring and rationalization of all Government functions while taking Cognizance of the existing legislation and emerging Government policy. In the same spirit, Government came up with a policy that transferred all teaching tertiary institutions from their respective sector Ministries to the Ministry of Education and Sports.

The rationale was to ensure effective coordination and consistency as the Government no longer trains personnel for public service only, but rather for the wider market which is both local and international.

The transfer process involved reviewing the operations and structures of the transferred institutions. To that effect, it was decided to merge the Survey Training School-STS and the Physical Planning School into the Institute of Survey and Land Management (ISLM).