Openjuru Ladaah, MaxwellLadaah Openjuru, GeorgeSanford, KathyDe Oliveira Jayme, BrunoMonk, David2022-12-062022-12-062022Ladaah, M. G. O., Openjuru, G. L., Sanford, K., de Oliveira Jayme, B., & Monk, D. (2022). Learning Informally: A Case for Arts Learning in Vocational Education and Training in Uganda. ENGAGE!, 4(1), 17-29.https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/ENGAGE/article/view/26078https://nru.uncst.go.ug/handle/123456789/5900This paper advocates for the inclusion of the arts in vocational learning programs in Uganda as an integrated form of holistic learning oriented towards empowerment and entrepreneurship. Using community-based research in the context of vocational education and training, our data emerged from open-ended interviews, focus groups and youth-led radio talk shows with stakeholders from public and private sectors, instructors, artists, and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Three significant themes arose from the data collected. First, pathways available to learners to become artists are limited by increasing neoliberal orientations towards education. Second, there is a thriving informal youth-led arts community in northern Uganda empowering young artists to pursue the arts as a livelihood. Third, the arts are socially delegitimated. That is, without ways for learners to generate income from the arts, they are not able to devote their time to learning through the arts, and their artistic endeavors are not recognized as important skills in their communities or in society. Although different, these three themes demonstrate that there is a vibrant space in the informal sector of arts to inform professional practices, that if supported by vocational education and training, have the potential to become important and much needed professional careers in Uganda.enArts educationVocational trainingIndigenous educationInformal learningArts employmentArticle