By Patrick Muriungi

About 200 Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) members have ditched the union.

The teachers from Meru Central said they would join the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), which they said would serve their interests better.

The teachers, who are PI ‘A’ level holders and trained for two years, accused Knut of failing to fight for their promotion to the level of the Approved Teacher Status (ATS).

push for promotion

They claimed Knut had not taken their case seriously since 1993, hence their decision to withdraw their membership.

The teachers made the decision after meeting Kuppet officials at DEB Meru Primary School, on Sunday.

Kuppet Secretary-General Njeru Kanyamba and the union’s Meru secretary Julius Mbijjiwe, who welcomed the teachers to the union, promised to push for their promotion.

The teachers’ colleagues were promoted after only two weeks of training, in 1996.

Raw deal

"This is very unfair. You have been given a raw deal for a long time. TSC should have realised this imbalance and rectified it. We shall present your case and ensure something is done," said Mr Kanyamba.

Meanwhile, parents at Kithaene Primary in Imenti South District stormed the school and shut the headmaster’s office, demanding his removal.

About100 angry parents, who had accompanied their children to the school on Monday, blocked the headmaster, Mr Stephen Gichuru, from accessing his office.

They blocked the door and declared they would not allow him to work at the school.

"We want this man removed from our school immediately. He has been here for more than 10 years of poor leadership and poor KCPE results," said Mrs Susan Kimathi.

resolve the matter

The parents, who have threatened to withdraw their children from the school, claimed it was performing poorly in KCPE, and blamed the headmaster for it.

Two armed policemen, accompanied by zonal education officers, visited the school.

The besieged headmaster and some parents, led by the school management committee chairman Kirimi Kiugu, were later summoned to the District Education Office at Nkubu town to resolve the matter.

District Education Officer Robert Mukombe was, however, not available for comment.

Local DC Wilson Wanyanga, who is the DEB chairman, said he could not comment because he was away on official business.