A long-term maintenance strategy is necessary to maintain infrastructure investment. Lack of preventive or routine maintenance had a significant effect on the infrastructure condition of schools, permitting many to fall into disrepair and reducing buildings’ life and the potential economic and social gains that the schools could have brought to their communities. Making a specific plan for and supporting a culture of preventive or routine maintenance along with increased community ownership can significantly extend the life of school buildings. The evaluation found that schools with more community ownership were better maintained. Moreover, respondents were about four times more likely to cite a lack of maintenance financing as the driver of maintenance practices versus a lack of skills or training, highlighting that planning and financing should be a top priority for future investment rather than training. Ongoing MCC projects in education infrastructure have included a greater emphasis on operations and maintenance, and MCC aims to deliver relevant learning from the evaluation of these components.
Lesson Learned