Community Participation and the Sustainability of Donor-Funded Education Projects in Kajiado County, Kenya

The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of community participation on the sustainability of donor-funded education projects in Kajiado County, Kenya. The study was guided by Social Action Theory. Descriptive survey research design was used in this investigation. The target population was 648 individuals involved during the implementation of 32 donor funded projects in Kajiado County. The study targeted 123 school board of management (BoM) members, 380 community facilitators and 113 local administrators. In addition, the study targeted 32 project coordinators as the key interviewees. Sample size of 243 comprised of 49 school board of management (BoM) members, 150 community facilitators and 44 local administrators. The selection of study samples was carried out using stratified simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Semi-structured questionnaires along with a key informant interview guide were employed to fulfill the study requirements. Moreover, data was collected and analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with the help of SPSS version 25. Furthermore, multiple linear regression analysis determined the existing interactions among the variables under investigation. On the other hand, qualitative data analysis was done using content analysis by way of N-vivo software package. Consequently, findings revealed that there is a positive relationship between community participation in decision making process. Majority of the respondents strongly agreed that non-participation might result in apathy, animosity, or intentional hindrance from the individuals who were meant to benefit (mean = 4.4464, SD = 0.74156), and that project efficiency is enhanced by the assistance of the community (mean = 4.3004, SD = 0.9891). Respondents also agreed that participation improves the competitive advantage of an organization (mean = 4.1717, SD = 1.0321), and ensuring the attention of stakeholders is crucial to fulfill the needs for procedural fairness, procedural logic, and legitimacy for all those engaged or impacted (mean = 4.1588, SD = 0.65365). This study thus recommends that project coordinators should involve communities in all stages. Key words: Community participation, donor funded projects; schools, project