The department's primary responsibility is oversight of Manitoba's public school system.
It was known as the Minister of Youth and Education from 1968 to 1971, before returning to its original name.
On April 21, 1989, it was retitled as the Minister of Education and Training.
On May 3, 2016 the Pallister government returned the training portion of the ministry back to education under the name Education and Training.
The current Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning is Tracy Schmidt.