Enhance access to clean water for all Kenyan pupils

A woman taps water from a cattle deep at Naipa village Loima Sub County in Turkana on July 23, 2022. [Peter Ochieng, Standard]

An estimated 40 per cent of Kenya's population does not have access to safe drinking water. The situation is also dire in schools, where one in three learners lack access to safe water.

This partly results from a strain on resources occasioned by the introduction of compulsory free primary education in 2003. Prior to that, enrollment rate hovered below 50 per cent. Within one year, 1.3 million children were registered in schools.

Today, over 11 million children attend school. This rise in enrollment without concurrent investment in key resources, among them water, has exacerbated the crisis. Yet, access to water and sanitation services is a right enshrined in the 2010 Constitution. The document also spells out crucial duties that the county governments, should carry out to ensure as many people as possible access clean water.

During the election campaigns, leading coalitions sketched elaborate plans on how to enhance access to water for all Kenyans. Yet, such promises have been given before, with previous administrations failing to live up to them. In part, the issue appears to stem from a lack of coordination between national and county governments on water implementation tactics and identification of resources to be tapped, especially for schools.

This is despite national education policies and budgets appreciating the pivotal role that Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services mean to schools.

The National Education Sector Strategic Plan, for instance, notes that, "availability of clean water, promotion of hand washing and proper sanitation at the pre-primary schools positively impact on the health of a child, deterring waterborne diseases and infections."

Lack of coordination has left counties to pursue their own agenda, with water issues being relegated to the back seat. School principals then scramble to implement these projects despite having limited resources at their disposal and other competing needs.

Lack of access to safe drinking water has had far-reaching implications for the education sector. Studies have indicated that many high school students who have to prioritise searching for water for their families end up dropping out or see their school performance decline.

But as the blame game continues, development partners and NGOs are engaged in a proactive attempt to find solutions, as small-scaled and localised as they may be.

WellBoring is one such organisation. The NGO provides safe, clean drinking water to schools and surrounding communities through drilling of boreholes, and has sunk 199 wells since 2015 in Migori, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Siaya, Kakamega, Kitui, Kwale and Busia counties.

As Kenya readies for a new political dispensation, citizens hope that the incoming government will finally give water issues, particularly in schools the attention, funding and focus they deserve.

The writer is a communication expert