| dc.description.abstract | Water access is crucial for socio economic development. Water is life and a right of every citizen. The access to water is still a great challenge to the government especially in arid and semi- arid areas. The MDGs which had a target of halve the population to have access to water by 2015 has so far been affected by various challenges in meeting its goals. The post millennium development goals had to be set up to ensure areas which MDGs did not meet are addressed to. One of the areas that is under review is to ensure access to water in schools by 2030.Water sectors has gone through various reforms with the aim of better transparency, water governance and accountability. The major developments in the sector have been faced with implementation challenges though efforts are in place. Water access in secondary schools in Kajiado County being a semi- arid area is a faced with many challenges. This research sought to identify the determinants of water accessibility in secondary schools in Kajiado County. The study sought literature on water access globally, regionally and locally on the study area and identified the independent variables as; the water provision services, water catchment and conservation, water policies and regulation, political leadership and economic activities. The study target population was 124 secondary schools and 66 secondary schools were registered private secondary schools and the rest public schools including two county water officers. The sample of 30% was selected for study hence 20 private secondary schools and 17 public secondary schools were selected for study making a total of 37 schools. The researcher also interviewed one county water officer. The study took descriptive survey research design. The sampling frame utilized stratified random sampling technique. The study data was collected using the instruments; interview on county water officers and two self- administered questionnaires per school. The data collected was analysed using statistical Package for Social scientist software and analysis on descriptive and correlations statistics using spearman rank coefficient correlation were done. The study findings were presented in tables. The study findings indicated that water provision services is still far from being achieved. The water services providers have low coverage hence most schools rely on borehole water and water tankers. The water catchment and conservation require management and maintenance. Water storage is still lacking due to insufficient storage facilities. Most of the schools have medium storage facilities for water storage hence cannot cope with demand especially in dry seasons and the student population. The study finding on water policies and regulations reveals that most schools do not recycle water. The study also shows that the water points need maintenance in order to reduce water pollution hence less treatment resulting in reduced waterborne diseases. The study reveals that political leadership has not done enough in access to water in schools. The CDF funds have not been sufficient to assist in access to water in schools. There is some involvement in donor funding to water access. The study also found the economic activities to have an influence in access to water. Livestock keeping has an impact on water access as it takes much of the water but not as irrigation agriculture which consume huge quantities of water. Sand harvesting is also doing a great impact on water access in secondary schools. | en |
