The government has shut down hopes for a new teachers' union after the Registrar of Trade Unions declined registration of a new outfit Kenya National Union of Classroom Teachers.
The new union was declined recognition on basis that there already exists trade unions representing the rights and interests of teachers.
The union had sought recognition on September 23; however, the Registrar of Trade Unions Elizabeth Gicheha noted in a letter that the law only allows the formation of trade unions in sectors where no other union exists.
The letter is dated November 10 and is addressed to Ondieki and Ondieki Advocates, who applied for the recognition on behalf of the union.
The decision deals a blow to rebellion within the already existing unions in the teaching sector that are accused of neglecting teachers' grievances.
In August, a splinter group from the two main teachers unions KNUT and KUPPET sought the registration of the National Education Union (NEU)
The Star understands that the group has equally been denied registration and recognition.
The group sought to recruit teachers from pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, as well as those in private institutions.
This is a major break away from tradition, where unions have tended to target membership from only one category of teachers.
Martha Omollo, who is the spokesperson of Kenya National Teachers Pressure Group (KNTPG), confirmed to the Star that she was among those proposing and pushing for the registration of NEU.
She argues that teachers want a union they can associate with.
The push for new unions came after months of turmoil that saw many leave the once giant Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the signing of a controversial non-monetary collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
The splinter group sought to recruit teachers from pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary levels, as well as those in private institutions.
Currently, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) draws the bulk of its members from primary school teachers,
On the other hand, the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) is predominantly a union for secondary school teachers.
Teachers working in special needs schools are catered for by the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet).
These three unions have signed recognition agreements with TSC.
Other unions are the Kenya Union of Pre-primary Education Teachers (Kunoppet), which draws its membership from pre-primary teachers, the Kenya Union of Technical and Vocational Education Trainers (Kutvet) and;
The Kenya Union of Private Schools Teachers (KNUPST)
Kuppet currently has 130,000 members while Knut, which at one point had 187,000 members, is down to about 30,000.
