Institutional Support and Practices in Sustainable Water Management Education: Evidence from Technical Training Institutions in Kenya

Sustainable water management education (SWME) is increasingly promoted as a pathway for building practical water management skills in water-scarce regions. However, empirical evidence on its effectiveness within Technical Training Institutions (TTIs) remains limited. This study evaluated the effectiveness of SWME in enhancing students’ water management skills in TTIs in Tana River County, Kenya, with specific attention to institutional support and practices. A descriptive cross-sectional research design was employed, involving 64 participants (students, tutors, and administrators) drawn through a census approach. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and observation checklists and analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression. The findings reveal significant divergence in perceptions of institutional support for SWME, with administrators unanimously reporting the absence of formal policies, while most students perceived such policies to exist. Institutional support emerged as a strong predictor of students’ SWM skills (R = 0.818; R² = 0.6696), explaining approximately 67% of the variance in competence levels. Instructional challenges were evident, including limited curriculum integration, inadequate infrastructure, insufficient resources, and low instructor confidence. Despite this, students reported relatively high levels of competence, suggesting a possible overestimation associated with self-reported data. The study concludes that while SWME has strong potential to enhance practical water management skills, its effectiveness is largely constrained by weak institutional frameworks and limited instructional capacity. Strengthening policy enforcement, instructor preparedness, and experiential learning infrastructure is essential for improving outcomes in vocational sustainability education.