Strengthening polytechnics to enhance delivery of quality education programmes in integrated water management

Sector

Water

Project budget

The maximum budget of this project is € 1 million.

Organisations

This project has been developed by Kenya Polytechnic University College (KPUC). The tender for this project expired on 25 November 2011. Nuffic has awarded this tender to Euroconsult Mott MacDonald, which has formed a consortium with UNESCO-IHE, The University of the Western Cape, MDF Training & Consultancy and ITC.

Project description

This project aims at delivering graduates, who can contribute effectively to the water scarcity problems in Kenya and use integrated water management to produce safe and clean drinking water. To achieve this,  practical, entrepreneurial and gender skills have to be integrated in the educational programmes at all levels.

The project will address the core functions of KPUC by strengthening its organisational, technical and training capacity. The project will focus, among other things, on:

• reviewing and developing gender sensitive and practical programmes at certificate, diploma, BSc and MSc level;
• improving entrepreneurial and life skills to meet labour market needs;
• strengthening outreach, partnerships and research programmes to improve the quality of training programmes and increase KPUC's influence on the IWM agenda in Kenya.

Background

Kenya is a water-scarce country. So far, access to safe water and sanitation services has not caught up with the needs of the growing population. In many regions the level of water scarcity has become a serious limiting factor for development activities. 

Water reforms have increased the number of institutions that deal with water and sanitation. These new institutions need:

• staff who are trained in integrated water management (IWM);
• specialised courses in areas such as hydrogeology, geotechnical investigations and dam design.