The drive to get children into schools and on track to a better future often outpaces the ability of school officials, communities and governments to equip schools with adequate facilities. This is the case in Kenya, where the government’s introduction of free primary education in 2003 led to an influx of over 1.3 million students. The situation is particularly acute in Nyanza province, Western Kenya where SWASH+ baseline data reveals that in the rainy season approximately 79% of schools have access to an improved water source (mainly rainwater tanks) while in the dry season, this number shrinks to 23%.

Based on the experience of a safe water systems school project in Western Kenya, the SWASH+ project was founded in 2006 with implementation and research activities in Nyanza province. It was designed using what was hoped to be a formula for and influence not only within Kenya but with school WASH around the world:

• A two-year phase of implementation in 250 schools, accompanied by a randomized, controlled study, at the end of which enough would be known about school WASH in that context to provide a model for scale-up within Kenya.
• A third year of “government engagement” during which this model for scale-up would be adopted by the government of Kenya and a transition from SWASH+-led to government-led implementation of school WASH would begin on a wider scale.
• Another two years of government-led implementation with support from SWASH+.

This tidy model proved to be trickier to implement that originally anticipated. For one thing, though the activities have been met with widespread enthusiasm, early research began to yield some unanticipated results, such as:

• The link between improved school water, sanitation and hygiene and absenteeism is difficult to prove. This leads to questions about whether school-based interventions are sufficient or if WASH programs need to target communities at the same time.
• Hygiene messages in school do not necessarily have an appreciable impact on parent’s hygiene habits, i.e. message transfer from students to parents does not necessarily lead to behavior change, if at all the transfer happens in the first place.
• Making handwashing facilities available does not automatically mean that children will have fewer bacteria on their hands when tested. This could ironically be because latrine installation could cause children to go to the bathroom more when at school and therefore have dirtier hands in the short run. 

When it came time for engagement with the government, it soon became clear that the Ministry of Education already had plans. SWASH+ would have to re-engineer itself to influence a planned national school WASH program under the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme (KESSP), rather than offer up a ready-made school WASH model. Furthermore, the SWASH+ model, though greatly improved, was not ready to be recommended for wide-spread scale-up because the research had not been completed to show whether it led to lasting behavior change.

SWASH+ partners analyzed the enabling policy environment for school WASH and identified three critical factors:

• An adequate budget for WASH at the school level;
• A viable government-led integrated monitoring system for school WASH; and
• Knowledge promotion and behavior change through targeting school head teachers and school management committees as primary agents of change in Kenyan primary schools

SWASH+ partners began discussions with the Ministry of Education and together they decided that SWASH+ would pilot the government’s model of direct funding for WASH to 18 schools, along with some enhancements that the project had already identified as being needed. Out of this, SWASH+ will draw lessons and recommendations to be applied to the government-led WASH activities.  Joint learning and research questions will be based on the Ministry of Education’s draft “National School Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Strategy,” which SWASH+ helped develop.

Critically, more recent findings have confirmed that school WASH can have demonstrable and lasting impact. They show, for example, that education about water treatment and provision of basic supplies are relatively effective in getting schools to treat water. If schools are provided with a limited supply of hypochloride solution and educated about safe water treatment then at least 40% will continue treating their water, compared to 4.5% in control schools, even after supplies run out.

The SWASH+ Kenya experience has shown that school WASH defies easy answers or simplistic approaches. There are many elements to consider, such as relevant health and education policy, behavior change motives, management structures at school level, the interplay between schools and home environments, and appropriate technology. It is also important to start working with other actors early on, as programs do not unfold in a static or insulated environment and any complementarities or opportunities for collaboration should be planned for. Clearly, the body of knowledge in existence about implementing successful SWASH+ programs should be consulted when designing new ones. And yet, each program will yield challenges unique to its location and context, so a practice of ongoing learning is needed.