Operation and Maintenance Financing for School WASH Facilities in Egypt

This is a case study on the financing for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of school WASH facilities in Egypt, based on a review of documents, key informant interviews and visits to 10 rural and 10 urban schools in Assuit Governorate’s Abnoub District.

Egypt has an institutional and financing mechanism to support the construction and maintenance of WASH facilities. There are three levels of maintenance for schools, backed by funding allocations and plans at each level. However, there are notable gaps in WASH maintenance. Despite inflation, maintenance budgets for schools and district education department have remained the same. Furthermore, maintenance budgets do not have a specific line item for WASH, instead, spending on WASH is up to the discretion of schools. Only two of the 20 schools visited had developed a school budget with a WASH line item. Consequently, the findings from visits to schools show that while water and toilet facilities are functional, the school ground and facilities are usually unclean or only somewhat clean.