The Ministry of Labour is one of the oldest government ministries having existed, as a department of the Ministry of Education, before independence. After independence it was made a full Ministry of Labour with mandates of labour administration issues and industrial skills development. In 1999 it was renamed the Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development after the merger with the then Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Manpower Development and Employment. In subsequent changes in the organization of Government a number of other functions have either been added or transferred to other ministries.