Delivering safely managed water to schools in Kenya

Working paper

With two out of every five Kenyans aged between four and seventeen years old, education is critical for the current welfare and the future development of 20 million children attending 37,910 primary and 11,399 secondary schools. Without safe water in schools for drinking, food preparation, handwashing and general hygiene and sanitation, even basic education outcomes will prove difficult to achieve and sustain.

This report presents the status of school water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in Kitui County drawing upon a survey of 1,887 primary and secondary schools in 2019. We evaluate water resource risks in the county to understand how climate anomalies affect rainwater harvesting for schools and the influence of geology on groundwater quality. The report considers policy responses to guide new thinking on the delivery of safely-managed water services. The latter is informed by the performance of a professional maintenance service provider guaranteeing rapid repairs to handpumps and small piped systems within days, and monthly monitoring of water quality.

Authors: Hope, R; Katuva, J; Nyaga, C; Koehler, J; Charles, K

• Publication status: Published
• Publisher: University of Oxford
• Series: REACH Working Paper
• Publication date: 2021-03-08
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-5jko2ggzw
• Paper number: 8
• Language: English
• Keywords: professional maintenance; water security; education; hygiene; sanitation; schools; 201880; water services; rainwater harvesting; WASH; REACH programme; infrastructure